Facebook faced a reality check out of the gate after its Friday IPO. (SHANNON STAPLETON - REUTERS) The public response to Facebook’s fumbled IPO has been a mix of outrage, shock and more than a little bit of schadenfreude. Much of the hype surrounding the company’s initial public offering has been burst by reports of late cuts in revenue estimates, a review of the process by regulators, and a stock that fell more than 20 percent in its first three days of trading. A company that had been the belle of the ball is suddenly the brunt of jokes. (Actor Al Brooks on Twitter: “When Facebook gets to $9 I'm in.”) But what’s the response been like inside Facebook HQ? The Wall Street Journal reports ... Continue reading →
In the summer of 2008, a partner at our Seattle law firm asked me to work with Craigslist. I’d been focused on Internet law and cyber crime for clients like Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon.com (AMZN), and I’d done work with victims of abuse. Craigslist was drafting new guidelines for its erotic services section. These ads may be distasteful, but services like stripping and phone sex are legal. Craigslist had let people post these ads for free. It added a fee after pressure from the states attorneys general; payments make it easier to track predators. Then the attorneys general turned around and accused them of profiting from the exploitation of women and children. In 2010, I was sitting in our firm’s office in San Francisco when ... Continue reading →
It was announced Sunday that Scott Thompson will step down as chief executive officer at Yahoo! He was unable to survive pressure from a major shareholder who had brought to light a “discrepancy” on Thompson’s résumé—a claim that he had earned a degree in computer science. In fact, he holds no such degree. Most of the opining from columnists and bloggers has focused on trying to understand how the lie went undetected for so long. Blame has been placed on Thompson himself and on the Yahoo board members responsible for vetting him. In each case, the tone is indignation—how could someone seeking to be entrusted with the leadership of a major company be complicit in such an “oversight”? The reality is that Thompson is simply ... Continue reading →
It has been a rewarding week for activist investors. Carl Icahn succeeded in his $2.6 billion bid for CVR Energy (CVI) on May 7, Bill Ackman picked up some powerful allies for his May 17 proxy battle at Canadian Pacific (CP), and Dan Loeb scored a major victory with the May 13 resignation of Yahoo (YHOO) chief Scott Thompson. Moreover, despite management efforts to paint these hedge fund managers as opportunists, the trio has had public sentiment on their side. While bankers stand accused of hubris and excessive risk-taking, men who have invested billions in public companies with the clear goal of making much more are held up as defenders of the average investor. A generation ago such investors typically grabbed headlines under a different ... Continue reading →
Yahoo Board Said to Meet Over CEO Record Amid Firing Call By Brian Womack - Sun May 13 17:24:18 GMT 2012 Enlarge image Yahoo! Inc. CEO Scott Thompson Yahoo! Inc. Chief Executive Officer Scott Thompson, seen here in a Feb. 10, 2011 file photo as president of PayPal Inc., is Yahoo's third CEO in just over three years. Thompson’s undoing stems from erroneous biographical references to him holding a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Stonehill College. Yahoo! Inc. Chief Executive Officer Scott Thompson, seen here in a Feb. 10, 2011 file photo as president of PayPal Inc., is Yahoo's third CEO in just over three years. Thompson’s undoing stems from erroneous biographical references to him holding a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Stonehill ... Continue reading →
THINKING AHEAD, BUILDING TOGETHER For the first time in our history, we are a world of cities -- and this is just the beginning. By 2050, the global urban population will reach 7 billion people, double the number living in cities today. We are only just starting to grasp the significance of this phenomenon. What is certain is that the scale and pace of global urbanization is unprecedented and its impact will be felt in all spheres of human life. This urban world comes with complex new environmental, economic and social challenges. It also represents a unique opportunity to build more sustainable, vibrant, innovative, and equitable communities, particularly in rapidly-urbanizing regions of the world. The Summit, organized by the New Cities Foundation, aims to place ... Continue reading →
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has backed activist investor Bill Ackman’s entire slate of nominees for Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.’s CP-T board and withheld votes from incumbent directors at the railway.Mr. Ackman, chief executive officer at hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management LP, is proposing to have his seven nominees elected at next Thursday’s annual meeting of Calgary-based CP, while the railway is hoping that shareholders will back its team of 15 directors. More related to this story “We have assessed the cases put forward by CP and Pershing Square and have concluded that change is necessary at CP. This view is supported by both operational and financial measures of performance which have significantly underperformed peers over a prolonged period of time, resulting in ... Continue reading →
