IntroductionLIVE from your ESG USB-C DIY LOL DEI Vape Pen, it’s a Business Pants Friday Show here at October 18th Studios, featuring all of your favorites: AnalystHole Matt Moscardi! On today’s weekly wrap up: Meta employees have acne but don’t call CVS’s Karen Lynch, meth-flavored TikTok, 3-headed CEOs, and even one-headed CEOs named Jamie that love to talk Our show today is being sponsored by Free Float Analytics, the only platform measuring board power, connections, and performance for FREE.Story of the Week (DR):CVS ousts CEO Karen Lynch, names Caremark head as new chief DR MMCVS Health Corp. named David Joyner as its new chief executive officer, ending a tumultuous tenure for current CEO Karen Lynch at the pharmacy giant.Longtime executive Joyner, 60, took over Thursday, according to a Friday release. The move comes after the company repeatedly missed earnings targets, setting off unrest among shareholders that spilled into public view in recent weeks.Last month, major CVS shareholder Glenview Capital began a significant push for changes at the company, CNBC previously reported.CNBC reported last month that CVS’ board had engaged strategic advisors to weigh its options, including the potential of a breakup of its insurance and retail businesses.Joyner most recently oversaw the company’s pharmacy services business as president of CVS Caremark, a similar position to the one Lynch held before she assumed the top job in February 2021. He began his career at Aetna in pharmacy benefit services and previously held the role of executive vice president of sales and marketing at CVS Health.“We believe David and his deep understanding of our integrated business can help us more directly address the challenges our industry faces, more rapidly advance the operational improvements our company requires, and fully realize the value we can uniquely create,” Chairman Roger Farah said in a statement.Lynch also stepped down from the company’s board of directors this week, the company said Friday. Joyner will take a seat on the board, and Farah will assume the role of executive chairman.FFA: Karen Lynch (16%) vs. Roger Farah (16%)Meta fires staff for abusing $25 meal creditsMeta recently fired some employees for misusing a Grubhub meal perk.Roughly two dozen employees were terminated for abusing the company's meal credit system.The Grubhub perk is intended to support employees who work at locations where free meals aren't provided by a cafeteria or when employees work late and need food delivered to the office.Instead of purchasing meals, some Meta employees used the $25 credit to order other items, including laundry detergent, wine glasses, and acne pads, the person familiar with the situation said.The roughly two dozen staff were fired for a repeated pattern of misuseAmazon invests in nuclear energy, hot on the heels of Google and MicrosoftBig Tech continues to go nuclear as the artificial-intelligence boom drives energy demand to new heights.Amazon announced on Wednesday that it's anchoring a $500 million investment for X-energy to develop small, advanced modular nuclear reactors, which would provide carbon-free power for some of its data centers.Microsoft last month helped advance a plan to reopen the Three Mile Island plant, the site of one of the worst nuclear disasters in US history, and Google on Monday announced a partnership in small-modular-reactor tech with Kairos Power.A Sam Altman-backed nuclear power stock soared 150% in a monthParamount Will Allow Its 3 Co-CEOs to Resign and Receive Severance If They Are DemotedWith Paramount Global poised to be taken over by Skydance Media in 2025, the three execs running Paramount as co-CEOs — George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins — now have an additional provision in their employment agreements that will let them quit and receive severance benefits if they are demoted from their co-CEO roles.In addition, Cheeks, McCarthy and Robbins were each awarded grants of $3 million worth of restricted share units Prior to securing the deal with Skydance, Paramount dismissed former CEO Bob Bakish and formed the three-member Office of the CEO effective as of May 1 comprising: George Cheeks, president and CEO of CBS; Chris McCarthy, president and CEO, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks; and Brian Robbins, president and CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon.guaranteed severance payments equivalent to two times their annual base salary plus twice their annual target bonus amount, among other benefitsFor Bob Bakish last year that severance would have amounted to nearly $50MThe change in compensation comes at a time when Paramount is aiming to reduce annual costs by $500 million ahead of its merger with Skydance Media. As part of these cost-cutting measures, Paramount started job cuts in August and plans to lay off 15% of its U.S.-based workforce in three phases by the end of the year."US judge orders Boeing, DOJ to ...
