The Murdochs were in the news again this week. But this time it was Elisabeth Murdoch, who grabbed headlines for her powerful speech at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. It’s a terrific speech, one of the best I’ve seen in a long time by a business leader, and it is instructive not only for media […]
Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini recently was drawn into a public argument about health insurance when Arijit Guha, a 31-year-old cancer patient, challenged the company over its refusal to pay his medical bills once he reached his plan’s coverage limit. Guha’s campaign went viral, and Bertolini ultimately agreed to cover the bills. To most observers, Bertolini […]
Remember Ed Breen? No? He took over a well known company after it was rocked by scandal, pilloried by Congressmen and editorial writers and later had its senior executives sent to jail. He adopted a radical strategy and engineered a brilliant turnaround. It’s a lesson for banks today.
Facebook users were up in arms recently after the company replaced the email address that appears in their profiles with an “@facebook.com” address. The response was swift and negative, with Facebook fielding a raft of harsh comments in the media and across the blogosphere. Facebook responded with a brief statement distributed by email from an […]
We seldom expect a Supreme Court justice to utter the defining sound-bite on a controversial public issue. But Chief Justice John Roberts did just that in today’s ruling on President Obama’s healthcare legislation.
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 […]
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 […]
Here is some advice for Eduardo Saverin and misunderstood billionaires everywhere: Just. Be. Quiet. Stung by criticism that he relinquished his U.S. citizenship to evade tax on his fortune, Mr. Saverin gave an interview to the New York Times. He no doubt believed that a sit-down with a Times reporter to “set the record straight” […]
Although it didn’t make the headlines last week, State Street suffered a setback in its long-running legal dispute over the fees it charges clients for foreign exchange services when a District Court judge in Boston denied its motion to dismiss the suit. State pension funds in Arkansas and California have sued State Street, alleging that […]