Federal regulators released a report about what caused the San Onofre nuclear power plant in California to leak radioactive steam in January. It said excessive wear caused steam tubes at the plant to rupture – an event that “had never been seen before,” according to a federal official, and hadn’t been anticipated by the manufacturer’s […]
The New York Times has a story on the return of Charlie Sheen, the actor and renowned Hollywood bad boy. Sheen’s run on a hit TV series collapsed spectacularly, but he quickly pivoted to other projects without any regrets. It’s a pattern followed by directors at financial firms who crashed their institutions but kept lucrative […]
Allegations in a lawsuit are not facts, but they still can dent a company’s reputation. So Kleiner Perkins likely has suffered from the media attention around the sex-discrimination suit filed by Ellen Pao, a partner at the firm. But its bad press is not a fatal blow.
Jamie Dimon of J.P. Morgan and Bob Greifeld of Nasdaq OMX share several things in common. Both presided over colossal blunders at their firms – a multi-billion-dollar trading loss at J.P. Morgan for Dimon, and a systems breakdown on the closely watched Facebook IPO for Greifeld. Both Dimon and Greifeld have thus far offered only […]
The bull – the iconic image long associated with Merrill Lynch – reappeared in advertisements for the firm over the past week. It is a widely recognized symbol associated with values that hold appeal in troubled times – growth, strength, optimism.
In case you missed it, the FT’s Gillian Tett had a great piece yesterday on the emergence (or perhaps the re-emergence) of risks that are hard to quantify but have a very powerful effect on the markets:
As Facebook’s shares continue to slump, recriminations over its busted IPO continue with no end in sight. It might also prompt fresh concern about the JOBS Act, which loosens the rules on capital raising.
I recently had lunch with a senior executive from a big accounting firm who complained about the criticism his firm was facing over audits it conducted at big companies that later were found to have big problems. In all these cases, the executive said, there was a “well established body of accounting practice” that permitted […]
The outlines of Goldman’s new public relations strategy are becoming clearer. It involves more television appearances by CEO Lloyd Blankfein, investments in trendy green-tech companies and a new twitter account, unveiled at yesterday’s annual shareholder meeting. It is part of an effort to create a “more open and friendly” firm, according to news reports. Lloyd […]
No one is covering themselves in glory in the aftermath of the Facebook IPO. Lead underwriter Morgan Stanley is battling allegations that it priced the deal too richly. Facebook insiders are being called greedy for the last-minute increase in the number of shares they sold in the offering. Facebook’s management is being criticized for signaling […]