Story of the Week (DR):

Jeff Shell, president and board director at Paramount Skydance, is stepping down after allegations of SEC violations

Shell came under scrutiny after gambler and whistleblower R.J. Cipriani filed a $150M lawsuit alleging Shell shared confidential information in violation of SEC rules.

Shell previously left his role as NBCUniversal CEO in 2023 after he admitted to having an “inappropriate relationship” with an employee.

The company said it did not find an SEC violation. Paramount added in a statement that the claims were “baseless” and said Shell is taking “forceful legal action.”

His future at Paramount has been in question since the company beat Netflix in a bidding war in February to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery The acquisition of WBD will bring in many new executives, and Shell, who was not involved in deal talks, didn’t have a defined role at a combined company, CNBC reported last month.

Yesterday, a Separation Agreement was announced: Shell will be getting approximately $16M:

$5M Cash Severance ($3.5M salary + $1.5M bonus)

$11M Equity Acceleration (1,000,000 shares @ $10.95=$10.95M)

12 months of COBRA benefits COBRA/Subsidies ~$30,000

According to the agreement: “The Executive shall not issue a press statement announcing about the separation without the advance approval of the Company” and “Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be deemed or construed as an admission of wrongdoing or liability on the part of the Company or of the Executive”

“The problem is Sam Altman”: OpenAI Insiders don’t trust CEO DR

Inside Sources Say Sam Altman Is a Sociopath

OpenAI Insiders Claim Sam Altman is Lying, Manipulative, and Untrustworthy in The New Yorker's Investigation

Sam Altman’s Really Weird Week Just Got Even Worse

Two OpenAI Execs Are Going on Medical Leave

The company’s chief marketing officer Kate Rouch is reportedly stepping down to recover from cancer.

And Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of artificial general intelligence development — and arguably one of the AI company’s most important cogs — is taking medical leave.

“For my entire time here, I’ve postponed medical tests and new therapies to stay completely focused on the job and not miss a single day of work”

Proxy adviser ISS recommended a vote against the BP board for revoking two resolutions from 2015 and 2019 requiring company-specific climate reporting which passed with near 100% support at the time.

At the same time, Activist shareholder Follow This agreed with ISS and warned ‌of possible ⁠legal action after BP refused to put a separate shareholder resolution on the agenda of its April 23 AGM

Oklahoma bill would block climate change lawsuits against fossil fuel companies

A measure introduced in the legislature this year would prohibit anyone in Oklahoma from suing fossil fuel companies for damages related to the effects of climate change or greenhouse gas emissions.

Rep. Anthony Moore (R-Clinton) said the legislation would protect the industry, which includes any company working with oil and gas, coal, natural gas liquids or refined petroleum products: “The reality is, if you were to get that judgment, billions and billions of dollars, that's just passed on to the taxpayer — that would be passed on at the pump, that would be passed on through electricity costs, energy costs across the board would dramatically change. There's no reason that that has any place in any court of law, but especially in Oklahoma.”

Rep. Anthony Moore won a state championship in golf; minored in Bible in college; began his professional career as a landman in the oil and gas industry; his law practice focuses primarily on oil and gas; and has received numerous recognitions for his for his work representing oil and gas mineral owners, earning Super Lawyers Rising Star recognition in the field of oil and gas law for five consecutive years.

Mark Cuban admits he made a mistake letting go of the Mavericks: ‘I don’t regret selling. I regret who I sold to’

Family of Sheldon Adelson

founder/chair/CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation

Owned more than 50% of stock

Still routing took $25M in pay, including $5M in security costs

Son-in law patrick Dumont: CFO/director

Donald Trump's largest donor in 2016 and 2020 ($557M as of 2024)

In February 2012, Adelson told Forbes magazine that he was "against very wealthy people attempting to or influencing elections. But as long as it's doable I'm going to do it.”

secretly bought Nevada's largest newspaper for $140 million through a shell company: the Las Vegas Review-Journal in Dec. 2015, a deal orchestrated by Adelson's son-in-law Patrick Dumont and seen as "lavish" and as a dramatic overpayment, and speculated that the move was a power play to further Adelson's business or political agendas

A set of editorial principles drawn up in 2016 and publicized to ensure the newspaper's independence and to deal with possible conflicts of interest involving Adelson's ownership were withdrawn after a new publisher was hired. The new publisher personally reviewed, edited, and sometimes killed stories involving Adelson

Fighting cannabis legalization was a personal passion of Adelson, whose son Mitchell died of an overdose of heroin and cocaine.[69] Mitchell used cocaine and heroin from an early age.[70] Adelson believed cannabis is a gateway drug

A few random scandals:

The Macau Bribery Settlement ($9 Million)

The Steven Jacobs Wrongful Termination Suit

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