Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management recently announced it would sell Freedom Group, the maker of Bushmaster rifles, the weapon used in the Newtown killings. Thanks to some deft PR work, the news coverage was brief, limiting the damage to Cerberus’s reputation from its association with the tragedy. But the episode raises questions about the […]
The schoolhouse murders in Newtown, Connecticut, have renewed the debate on gun control in America. But that debate is happening without the main protagonist. The National Rifle Association, so persuasive and powerful in private, has been silent in public. It has been their strategy in the past, and it has worked. Will this time be […]
We suffering taxpayers were treated to some rare good news this week, when the U.S. Treasury sold the last of its holdings in AIG, earning a cool $23 billion profit. Not bad for a risky corporate turnaround. But there to rain on the parade was Hank Greenberg, the former CEO of the insurance giant, who […]
Being a pioneer is tough and risky. It takes courage, skill and more than a little luck. And for every Lewis and Clark there are dozens who meet less glorious ends. That’s the lesson for Netflix, whose attempt to be a pioneer in the use of social media has run afoul of the Securities and […]
At a time when most executives are ready to work on their golf game, Kevin Sharer, who recently stepped down as CEO of Amgen, is taking up a new challenge as a professor at the Harvard Business School. His move offers several lessons in risk-taking.
Following its sweeping defeat in the presidential election, the Republican Party is beginning a period of reflection and rebuilding. So far, this has played out on editorial pages and airwaves in predictable ways, as one Republican pundit squares off against another. But their familiar screeching and table-banging indicate things are not yet changing for the […]
The cross-channel brawl that has broken out between London mayor Boris Johnson and a French central bank official has everything a British tabloid editor loves: colorful protagonists, money, national pride and a favorite adversary – the French. While it’s tempting to read the story as a blunder by the French, it’s a calculated move, and […]
The investment-banking reformation is picking up steam, with converts joining its ranks by the day. And like the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, it promises to be tumultuous and far-reaching, while leaving the promise of heaven just as uncertain.
Although largely overlooked by the media, California recently launched its ambitious carbon-trading program, holding a successful auction of carbon permits that raised nearly $300 million. Of course, had the auction failed it likely would have made the front pages, but its little-noticed triumph shouldn’t obscure its significance as a major step forward for the carbon […]
Three recent deals involving investment banks suggest a reshaping of the industry is underway, but beyond the perfunctory coverage of their press releases the deals haven’t drawn much attention. But each says something significant about where the industry has been – and where it might be headed.