Opening Bell: 4.25.17
Marissa Mayer Will Make $186 Million on Yahoo’s Sale to Verizon (NYT)
That compensation, which will be fully vested at the time of the shareholder vote, does not include her salary and bonuses over the past five years, or the value of other stock that Ms. Mayer has already sold. All told, her time at Yahoo will have netted her well over $200 million, according to calculations based on company filings.
For Aramco Insiders, Prince’s $2 Trillion IPO Valuation Doesn’t Add Up (WSJ)
Since deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the stock-offering plan and his $2 trillion estimate early last year, insiders and outsiders have questioned how he arrived at that number. One Aramco official called the figure “unrealistic and mind blowing.”
Is Trump Backer Robert Mercer a Billionaire? I Tried to Find Out (BBG)
With or without a value for Renaissance, no matter how I ran the numbers, Mercer looked like a billionaire. The only way to get him below $1 billion was to assume that more than 75 percent of what he was entitled to went back to the firm. That would mean Mercer received $19 million from Medallion in 2009, the same year he ordered a 203-foot yacht with six cabins and a Dale Chihuly chandelier made of Venetian glass that cost almost five times as much as that.
One Take on the Report of the Independent Directors of Wells Fargo: Vote the Bums Out (Harvard Law)
The Shearman & Sterling Report makes many excuses for the Board not having done its job. But read with care, the Report can and should be understood as a devastating critique of the Board’s work. Deconstructed, the Shearman & Sterling Report reveals a Board that failed to follow up on serious and widespread wrong-doing at Wells Fargo. This Board let their organization and their shareholders down. Were I a shareholder of Wells Fargo, I would definitely vote the bums out.
Partisan Divide Over Economic Outlook Worries Ben Bernanke (NYT)
“In tax policy, corporate tax reform could be helpful if it stimulates capital investment, but as a practical matter it doesn’t look like major reform is very likely,” he said, brushing aside Mr. Trump’s claims that a tax code overhaul is imminent.
Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales to set up global news website (FT)
“Take the bitcoin community as an example,” he said. “If that community wanted to get together and fund a journalist who covers that topic then they could do that. You could think of other communities who feel underserved by the typical news outlets.”
Not an inside job: How two analysts became SEC whistleblowers (Reuters)
The analysts, who live in different cities, said that the day the SEC charged Orthofix, they were just too far apart to get together and celebrate, but that an award would justify the trip. "If and when the actual award settlement is disclosed, then we can meet up for champagne," one said.
Former WaMu, IndyMac Workers Still Love Their Failed, Disgraced Banks (WSJ)
Janette Lewis, 54, worked for more than 20 years at a WaMu branch in Oregon. She says she lost half her retirement savings when WaMu failed, but she still adores it. When she couldn’t find a WaMu Action Teller doll that looked like her, Ms. Lewis bought a Barbie instead—and dressed it in WaMu garb. The doll is on display in her house, along with certificates showing ownership of 60 shares of WaMu stock, which WaMu gave her to mark work anniversaries. The shares are worthless.
Why Elon Musk’s new relationship is good for Tesla (NYP)
Corporate management experts say that Musk’s relationship is probably a plus for Tesla and Space X. “He gets a prize and looks like a winner,” says executive coach Debra Benton, who has worked with companies like Citi and General Electric. “Therefore, the public thinks that his company is a winner too.”