‘Serious Concern’ on PGA Tour
Prominent Tour board member Randall Stevenson resigned days before a PGA Tour hearing before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation on Tuesday. what’s his reason? He said he could not support the proposed partnership of the golf organization, which included reports by Saudi-backed rival LIV Golf, Dealbook’s Lauren Hirsch and The Times’ Alan Blinder.
In a scathing resignation letter obtained by Dealbook, former AT&T chairman Stevenson said he, like most of the board, was out of business as he negotiated a deal with a Saudi sovereign wealth fund whose tour shook the sports world. also said to have been placed outside the mosquito net. world.
‘I have serious concerns’ How did this framework agreement come about? Stevenson added that it “cannot be objectively evaluated or conscientiously endorsed” “especially in light of the 2018 US intelligence report on Jamal Khashoggi.”
Stevenson had already made plans to retire from the board. Two people familiar with his thinking told DealBook. (In fact, he was already accustomed to attending most board meetings via videoconference these days, with the exception of last month’s meeting in Michigan.)
Saudi Arabia Accord Accelerates Schedule. Days after announcing the deal, he informed board chairman Ed Harlihy, a partner at law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, of his plans to resign. Harlihy urged Stevenson to hold out while PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan is recovering from illness. Monaghan announced his return on Friday. The date of Stevenson’s resignation was Saturday.
He has asked the board to consider alternatives. “As the board moves forward, we expect it to comprehensively rethink its governance model and retain options to evaluate alternative sources of capital beyond the current framework agreement,” Stevenson wrote. .
According to DealBook, other investors are also interested. However, it is unclear how they will be able to compete with Saudi wealth funds. And the Saudi alliance was the only one that could put an end to the litigation between the two sides.
Optics looks bad for the PGA Tour. PGA Tour Director Jimmy Dunne, who was heavily involved in the negotiations, is scheduled to testify at Tuesday’s Senate hearing, along with Tour Chief Operating Officer Ron Price. Stevenson’s departure has also raised more questions about the deal itself, which still requires approval from the 10-member tour board, which includes five players.
what is going on here
The number of threads exceeded 100 million users, setting a new record for the number of app downloads. Meta’s new social network has reached that level just a few daysAccording to The Verge, it’s significantly less than the two months it took ChatGPT to reach that milestone. in the meantime, traffic to his social networks It seems to have dropped significantly over the same period.
Carl Icahn is negotiating a breather with his bank. Under pressure from short sellers over loans related to his publicly traded investment vehicle, Icahn Enterprises, the billionaire reached a compromise with some lenders to decoup some of his borrowings from the company’s stock price. made it The Wall Street Journal reported. That could help ease the pressure on the company’s stock price.
The moguls are due to arrive in Sun Valley. Allen & Co.’s annual conference for technology and media CEOs will begin Tuesday in Idaho, with Apple’s Tim Cook, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Warner Bros. Zaslav and other leaders will attend. on the guest list. The rally is famous for making big deals, like Comcast buying NBCUniversal and Jeff Bezos buying the Washington Post.
Mr. Musk puts Mr. Wachtel in the spotlight
Elon Musk has capitalized on the threat of retaliation against those who forced him to buy Twitter. The social network’s parent company Friday sued Wall Street law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz for working on behalf of Twitter’s former board to finalize a $44 billion takeover offer for the billionaire. rice field.
Twitter slams Wachtel, long known as Wall Street’s most powerful man and make money A company that made an “unjustified profit” by negotiating a high success fee just before the transaction was completed. Some legal experts say the lawsuit could be lengthy because Twitter’s board has approved Wachtel’s compensation, but the influential company’s advice is worth the price. There is also the question of what it was.
It’s the first time Twitter has aimed at this clawback vendor fees, After being held up for months by advisers and landlords alike about unpaid bills. By all appearances, Mr. Wachtel’s bill was high. Martha Lane Fox, a board member at the time, saw the cost and wrote in an e-mail, “Oh my God, that’s outrageous.”
The lawsuit alleges that Twitter executives transferred $84 million to Wachtel just 10 minutes before Musk fired him after the deal was completed. Lucky for Wachtel. Other advisers on the deal, including PR firm Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Kutcher and shareholder-facing firm Innisfree M&A, are suing Twitter over unpaid fees.
Wachtell provided value to Twitter’s then-shareholders. This helped the board get Musk to complete the takeover offer. Company performance deteriorated Several months of uncertainty as to whether the deal will go through. Wachtell also helped Twitter avoid lawsuits. Avoiding court costs more during billable hours.
However, the lawsuit sheds light on Wachtell’s billing practices. According to the complaint, on June 27, 2022, one of Wachtell’s attorneys charged $1,625 in five hours’ worth of drafting the stock price response. On July 9, the attorney charged $3,006.25 for 9.25 hours of minor work and general waiting.
Wachtell’s claims have been scrutinized before: Karl Icahn failed sued the company Over the company’s advice to defend CVR Energy from his takeover offer.
(DealBook wonders: What did Mr. Musk’s legal counsel, Mr. Skadden, charge?)
What next: The parties will likely go to arbitration, but the lawsuit ultimately led Musk to accuse Twitter’s former board of directors of doing so by authorizing payments to Wachtel. accusations and likely to sue for breach of fiduciary duty.
Remember, Mr. Musk fired the company’s former executives and refused the golden parachutes for good cause, but didn’t say why. Perhaps he might argue that this is so?
Evaluating Janet Yellen’s visit to China
Janet Yellen’s visit to China received mostly positive headlines despite the lack of policy breakthroughs and some problems. complain On diplomatic protocol of the Secretary of the Treasury. Yellen said the relationship was on “more stable foundations” and China’s state-run news agency called the talks constructive.
But the fact that everyone regards the mere fact that the world’s two largest economies are in talks as a success shows how relations are deteriorating (or, as the domestic economic slowdown worsens, It shows how desperate the Chinese government is to defuse tensions.)
The focus was on building relationships. Yellen has met with officials who have recently taken charge of economic policy, many of whom have little international experience and are largely unknown to Western policymakers. She spoke of a “diverse” supply chain (some say China’s goal) and avoided any mention of “decoupling” or “risk aversion”.
“Chinese decision-makers say she is more moderate than many other senior officials in Washington when it comes to China policy,” said Lee Ming-Jiang, a China foreign policy specialist at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. I understand that,” he told Dealbook. She “especially likes the Chinese government to repeatedly say publicly that decoupling would be disastrous for both countries.”
But the pressure points were not resolved. No new policies have been announced and the retaliation and retaliation of criticism continues. China will impose restrictions on the export of minerals essential to semiconductor manufacturing, and Ms Yellen criticized Beijing’s treatment of US companies.
China has big problems at home. Official data released on Monday showed the country is in trouble. Brink of deflation, as consumer spending slows and slowing global economic growth hits exports. It’s the latest sign that China’s post-coronavirus recovery hasn’t materialized, reviving calls for fresh stimulus.
What’s next: President Biden’s special envoy for climate change, John Kerry, will visit China this month to resume talks on global warming.
Wall Street’s top PR firm sees rare defections
Speaking of Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Catcher — the company best known for its behind-the-scenes advice on deals and corporate crises just recently hit its own headlines. A few executives and star M.&A Ed Hammond. Bloomberg reporter — founded his new PR firm, Collected Strategies.
Dealbook’s phones lit up on Sunday night when the news broke because it was the first time in Joele Frank’s 20 years that his partner had left the company to start a rival firm. .
Joele Frank is one of Wall Street’s top PR firms. Founded by Ms. Frank in 2000, the service has become a go-to for companies looking to protect themselves by making or opposing deals. For activist investors Or find a way out of the crisis. (Long-time clients include GE, Sony, Time Warner, and US Airways.)
Frank also distributes shares broadly to partners, who are paid large sums of money. That’s why Joele Franck didn’t follow a rival like Saad Verbinen to market his company, and why no partner has so far dared to set up a rival company.
Leaving partners include: Scott Bissang, who advised Twitter on signing Elon Musk, and Jim Golden, who advised First Republic and Pacwest.
Starting a new company is difficult Given that building relationships with corporate leaders and M.&A can take years, bankers and lawyers. As in many industries, executives are often asked to: long leaves between work.
In this case, the founders of Collected have entered into non-solicited agreements that will prevent them from tracking their original customers for some time.
But in any case, it’s a boom time for new advisory shops. It was founded by veterans of established companies such as Brunswick and Saad Verbinen (now part of FGS Global after a series of mergers).
PR firms that have emerged over the last decade include Gladstone Place Partners, C Street Advisory Group, Gasthalter & Company, and Reevemark.
NEXT WEEK << KEEP THIS AS THE 2ND HALF OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE
Corporate profits, geopolitics and inflation will be big issues this week. Here are some highlights:
Tuesday: NATO’s annual summit kicks off with a focus on Ukraine’s accession to the alliance.
Wednesday: The consumer price index is scheduled to be released. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect overall inflation to slow to 3.1% on an annualized basis in June, the weakest rise since March 2021.
Thursday: Earnings season begins with earnings reports from PepsiCo and Delta Air Lines. investors are worried On corporate profitability considering inflation and rising interest rates.
Friday: Now it’s Wall Street’s turn, with BlackRock, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo scheduled to report.
speed reading
Information of sale
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Commodity giant Glencore may consider Spun off the coal division It has long been one of the company’s most successful businesses. (FT)
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The Saudi National Bank reportedly suggested: Increased stake in Credit Suisse It was raised to 40% before the Swiss bank collapsed, but was rejected by the Swiss financial regulator. (Bloomberg)
policy
best of the rest
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Comedian Sarah Silverman and two authors Sue OpenAI and Meta In copyright infringement, it accused the company of using its own copyrighted material to program an AI network for free. (The Verge)
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“America Is Wrapped” miles of toxic lead cables(WSJ)
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