BofA Breakup Proposal Is New Snag in CEO Hunt (WSJ)
Not only does no one want to be CEO, but people are comfortable enough comparing the bank to Citi to the board's face: "At least two candidates for the top job at Bank of America Corp. told directors that the giant bank should consider breaking itself up, but board members in charge of the CEO search have rejected the idea at least for now, according to people familiar with the situation."
UK Treasury Take Control of RBS Bonus Pool (Reuters)
The Treasury has demanded the right to control the "quantum and shape" of 2009 bonuses at the bank as worry over the public backlash surrounding bonus pay for bankers continues.
Hedge Fund Veterans Start Anew (WSJ)
Four founding partners of former Citigroup hedge fund Old Lane, including its ex-chief executive Guru Ramakrishnan and Jonathan Barton, Jeff Moskowitz and Ajay Khanna, have launched the Meru Capital Group. Will Pandito join the fun or miss out on good times with the old gang?
Significant Risks To US Bank Stocks, Says Citi (NYT)
"Since there is above-average risk, we would remain very selective focusing on banks that have strong capital positions, while avoiding banks with the combination of relatively high commercial real estate exposure and questionable capital strength," Citigroup said in a note.
SEC Steps Up Insider Trading Probe (WSJ)
They're really mean it this time: The organization has sent at least three dozen subpoenas to hedge funds and brokerages within the past month in an expanding sweep of potential insider-trading violations.
Daughter Of Resigned GM CEO Attacks New GM CEO On Facebook (Jalopnik)
Sarah Henderson: "HE FUCKING GOT ASKED TO STEP DOWN ALL OF YOU FUCKING IDIOTS. IM FRITZ'S FUCKING DAUGHTER, AND HE DID NOT FUCKING RESIGN. WHITACRE IS A SELFISH PIECE OF SHIFT, WHO CARES ABOUT HIMSELF AND NOT THE FUCKING COMPANY. HAVE FUN WITH GM, I HOPE TO NEVER BUY FROM THIS GOD FORESAKEN COMPANY EVERY AGAIN. FUCK ALL OF YOU."
An Open Letter To Tiger Woods, by Larry Kudlow (CNBC)
So this happened: Fess up, Tiger. If you don't, the tabloids are gonna kill ya. By now everyone knows that something happened to you and your car outside your Florida mansion.
Some tabloids report that for some reason your wife Elin teed you up inside your home with one of your Nike golf clubs, and that you sought escape by hot-footing it outside at two-thirty in the morning to your Cadillac Escalade in the driveway but for some reason, you hit a fireplug and wrapped the car around a tree.
How you got your face scratched and wound up on the side of the road is still a mystery.
But the tabs and gossip sites like TMZ.com are saying a woman named Rachel Uchitel is the alleged home-breaker. That you have some kind of relationship with her. And that story is not going to die until you put it to rest one way or another by fessing up and telling all the details.
Adding fuel to these flames, you have pulled out of your very own tournament, the 2009 Chevron World Challenge, which is scheduled for this week. Tiger, my friend, one thing you need to consider is the business angle to this narrative.
The Daily Beast is running a story about your $100 million car crash. Investigative reporter Gerald Posner estimates that even if you take a 10 percent hit on your endorsement income, this incident could cost you $10 million a year, totaling $100 million over the next decade. At risk could be your contracts with Nike, Gatorade, and AT&T. There's also Accenture and the EA video-game series.
So, my friend, stonewalling, when even whispers of marital infidelity are involved, just doesn't pay.
South Carolina governor Mark Sanford tried stonewalling, but it didn't work out too well for him. His career is now finished. Another bad case is that of former North Carolina senator and unsuccessful presidential candidate John Edwards. He really had a bad time of it, with the tabloids literally chasing him into the bathroom. His career is finished, too. On the other hand, Nevada senator John Ensign did fess up -- about one half step ahead of the tabloids -- and he may well live to see another reelection day.
And then there's Bill Clinton, who stonewalled about his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Woaaah! That caused one heck of a blow up, including impeachment proceedings in the House. Remember when he said that it "depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is"? This was the worldwide sex-cover-up stonewalling attempt to end all marital-infidelity sex-cover-up stonewalling attempts.
Tiger, you don't want to go there.
That could be you. There are lessons to be learned about coming clean as fast as possible.
Even though I personally have only one-ten-thousandth of your media and business impact, perhaps my story will be helpful. Over 15 years ago, after missing a big speech and resigning from my career on Wall Street, the New York Times came after me with a story of serious alcohol and drug abuse. They were right. I believed then as I do now that honesty is a virtue, and I fessed up. I got sober. My saintly wife and I recently celebrated our 22nd marriage anniversary. And today I am fully employed at CNBC (for which I am eternally grateful). People forgave me. God redeemed me.
But in your case, if there is no alcohol, drugs, or infidelity, and if there is a better-sounding, truthful explanation of your events, you've gotta get out there and say it. As you know, your clean, serious, sober, near-perfect, golden-boy bloom is already off the rose. And if you insist on stonewalling, from now on it's damage limitation. And that will be no fun at all. Your bottom will be lower than anything you ever imagined.
Fans love the way you play, and so do I. Sunday afternoons are a treat watching you. But you're in a heap of trouble right now. Stonewalling, whether in business or politics, seldom pays.
C'mon Tiger. Be a mench. Fess up and clear the air. If you do it soon, you will be forgiven, and this too will pass.
