Story of the Week (DR):

Netflix Backs Out of Bid for Warner Bros., Paving Way for an Ellison Takeover

Netflix CEO Sarandos visited White House right before streamer said WBD deal is off

Equity Holders

Public Investment Fund (PIF) Saudi Arabia ~$8 billion

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) Qatar ~$8 billion

L'imad Holding Company UAE (Abu Dhabi) ~$8 billion

Total Sovereign Equity Middle East Consortium ~$24 Billion

While these funds provide nearly 60% of the equity needed for the takeover, the deal is structured to prevent a "block" by the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS):

Non-Voting Equity: The funds will hold "passive" stakes. This means they do not have board seats, voting rights, or direct say in daily operations.

The Ellison Safeguard: Tech billionaire Larry Ellison (Oracle) and his son David Ellison (Skydance) are the primary controllers of the voting power to maintain "American control" over sensitive assets like CNN and CBS News.

Neopbaby dropped out of USC film school in 2005

Jack Dorsey’s Block to Lay Off 40% of Its Workforce in AI Remake MM

Jack Dorsey's mea culpa after Block layoffs: 'We overhired'

Jack Dorsey struck an 'empathetic' tone as he laid off nearly half of Block

"I had two options: cut gradually over months or years as this shift plays out, or be honest about where we are and act on it now. I chose the latter."

C3.ai slashes 26% of staff as CEO admits failure to deliver and 'burning too much money'

Jamie Dimon says society should start preparing for AI job displacement: ‘Now’s the time to start thinking about’ it

WiseTech Global cutting 30% of workforce in AI restructure

Jack Dorsey just gave us our first glimpse at how doomsday layoffs could work in the AI era — and it's bleak

Block

Co-founder and CEO/Chair Jack Dorsey: 46% influence/41% voting power

Co-founder and director James McKelvey: 35% influence/41% voting power

Classified board

Class B shares worth 10 votes (co-founders control 99.6% of these shares, Dorsey with 80%)

CPO not part of leadership team

13 state AGs win victory against ESG with Vanguard settlement

Here are the 5 key points of the victory:

$29.5 Million Settlement: Vanguard agreed to pay a total of $29.5 million to the 13 participating states to resolve claims that it violated antitrust laws through coordinated climate activism

"Strict Passivity" Commitments: As part of the deal, Vanguard pledged to return to a "passive" investment role. This means it will no longer use its shareholder influence to dictate corporate strategy, nominate directors, or push environmental and social proposals that could reduce company profitability.

Expanded Proxy Voting: Vanguard will expand its "Investor Choice" program to funds representing at least 50% of its U.S. equity assets. This allows individual investors—rather than the firm’s management—to decide how their shares are voted on major corporate issues.

Protection for Energy Industries: The lawsuit alleged that Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street formed a "cartel" to suppress coal production and drive up energy prices. The settlement requires Vanguard to prioritize customer profitability over "woke" social agendas that target the American energy sector.

As a part of the settlement, Vanguard will “pay $30 million in fines, turn over all documents related to their coordinated ESG activism, and end all ESG activism for years to come,” Executive director of Consumers’ Research Will Hild said

Participating States: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Epstein junk

Larry Summers Will Resign From Harvard After Jeffrey Epstein Revelations

He will leave at the end of the academic year.

Former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey Resigns From Monolith Amid Epstein Emails

Was Chair; board down to 8 men and 0 women

Hillary Clinton suggests the House Oversight Committee should subpoena Elon Musk in combative opening statement

World Economic Forum CEO quits after Epstein links examined

Børge Brende, is stepping down, after the forum launched an independent investigation into his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Brende, a former Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, has announced he is stepping down from WEF to avoid “distractions”

Corporate boards

Statoil, Member of the Board (2012–2013)

Vanguard cowers, Dorsey’s AI employee apocalypse, Netflix flinches first, and Burger King’s HAL