Free Republic

Has the AIG CEO Robert Benmosche, just three months into the job, had enough? The Wall Street Journal scoops the field this morning with news from inside the AIG board room that Benmosche has informed the board "he is considering stepping down as chief executive of the government-controlled insurer." Benmosche dropped the bomb last week, saying he was "done." According to the Journal's sources, Benmosche "is chafing under constraints imposed by AIG's government overseers, particularly a recent compensation review by the Obama administration's pay czar, Kenneth Feinberg." He's not quite out the door yet, though. He agreed to think over...

Despite an economy languishing in high unemployment and low consumer confidence, more American companies are jumping on the bandwagon to provide support for homosexual and transgender employees. More than 300 firms have now received perfect 100 percent scores in this fall's Corporate Equality Index, produced annually by the Human Rights Campaign which ranks businesses on their "treatment" of employees who have chosen homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transgender lifestyles. The list, which saw a 20 percent increase this year in the number of perfect scores, includes newcomers such as theater giant AMC Entertainment, Costco, Delta Air Lines, Food Lion and General...

WASHINGTON (AP) - General Motors Co. CEO Fritz Henderson said Wednesday that government-imposed cuts to his own salary, and the pay of other executives at seven companies that received taxpayer money, were "fair" and "thoughtful." Henderson was among executives who will see their base salaries slashed under a plan by Kenneth Feinberg, the Obama administration's "pay czar." Henderson, between meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, said the changes were "tough, but the situation is tough."

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison commissioned the fabricators at Kirkham Motorsports to build the ultimate, cost-is-no-object roadster. After years of labor, they've completed the all-billet aluminum Cobra. Click "more" to see them build one of the most spectacular custom cars ever.

Tom Borelli October 15, 2009 Nike, Starbucks and Other Team Up With the Left to Sell Cap-and-Trade Every day we have an opportunity to vote with our wallets by letting companies know there is a price to pay for colluding with those who oppose our values. "Yes We Can!" the slogan used by then-Senator Obama during last year’s presidential campaign – is now being used by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) to launch a last ditch effort to jumpstart cap-and-trade legislation in the Senate. Graham and Kerry’s commentary, “Yes We Can (Pass Climate Change Legislation)” published in...

Since 2006, many observers have scratched their head over what prompted Google to pay $1.65 billion for the video site YouTube. We're now a little closer to the answer. Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in May, "I believe YouTube was worth somewhere around $600 million to $700 million."(Credit: Elinor Mills/CNET) The blockbuster acquisition for the 18-month-old start-up played a large role in sending valuations in the tech sector skyrocketing. Although YouTube made little revenue, the all-stock transaction gave Google control of a company many believed would change the face of mass entertainment. It also led to criticism from skeptics who...

- Used Rapists & Burglars in Door-to-Door Registration DrivesSo where does a far left political operative land after his organization is fined $775,000 for election violations that included hiring rapists and burglars to register voters? Inside the Obama White House, of course. Obama's ACORN operative in the White House Patrick Gaspard is helping shape domestic policy-- There have been several articles written lately about Barack Obama's ACORN advisor, Patrick Gaspard, who is currently serving in the White House. Gaspard has a long history of working with ACORN-affiliated organizations. Erick Erickson at RedState reported on Gaspard's close ties to ACORN: The...

The public-broadcasting-insider newspaper Current passed along a survey from The Chronicle of Philanthropy on executive compensation at large nonprofits in 2008. The salaries can be higher than the current presidential salary of $400,000 (and the current congressional salary of $174,000). The list includes national executives and leaders at large stations like WNET (New York), WETA (Washington), WTTW (Chicago), and KCET (Los Angeles.)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The situation at recently rescued Chrysler Group is even more dire than first thought, the CEO of Italy's Fiat -- which came to the aid of the U.S. automaker -- said Wednesday. "We were surprised by how little had been done in the past 24 months," Sergio Marchionne told reporters in Frankfurt, Germany. Chrysler will present a revised business plan in November, Marchionne told reporters.

<p>12:08 PM CDT, September 15, 2009 BOSTON (AP) — James S. McDonald, president and chief executive of investment management firm Rockefeller & Co., has died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, Massachusetts authorities said Tuesday.</p> <p>McDonald, 56, was found in his vehicle at about 3 p.m. Sunday behind a car dealership in Dartmouth, about 50 miles south of Boston, said Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for the Bristol district attorney's office.</p>

Wearing flip-flops, khaki shorts and a green polo shirt, the new chief executive of bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc says he's getting a lot of work done from his massive villa overlooking the Adriatic. "People criticize me for being on vacation. I actually started work a week before I was actually supposed to," Robert Benmosche told Reuters in an interview. "I do have conference calls every day, I have all my information sent here. I can work here as well as in the office in New York." Benmosche, 65, previously the CEO of MetLife Inc, the largest U.S. life...

CtW Investment Group Calls on Whole Foods Board to Remove Chair and CEO John Mackey FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, August 25, 2009 CONTACT: Per Olstad, (202) 721-6027 The CtW Investment Group called on the Whole Foods Market (NYSE:WFMI) board to remove CEO John Mackey as Chairman and to begin the process of naming a new CEO in a letter to Whole Foods’ lead independent director, Dr. John Elstrott, yesterday afternoon. Citing the risk to Whole Foods’ brand reputation caused by Mr. Mackey’s editorial opposing President Obama’s proposed healthcare reform, CtW urged the board to take immediate action to prevent continued...

Chrysler Group LLC Deputy Chief Executive Jim Press is planning to leave the auto maker by November, according to three people who have been informed of the plan. Press, 62, was the only member of Chrysler’s senior leadership team to remain with the company after a fast-track bankruptcy under the supervision of the U.S. Treasury.

Last week, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey wrote a gutsy and possibly ill-conceived op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal. In The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare, Mackey named “Eight things we can do to improve health care without adding to the deficit.” Sounds great, right? Well, yes and no. By taking on ObamaCare and pushing for less government, Mackey may have risked harming his company’s business by angering its traditionally left-leaning customer base. The blogosphere is having a field day amidst calls for boycotting Whole Foods:

“MOST VALUABLE BOSSES” At a time of economic pain and insecurity, populist outrage inevitably focuses on corporate leaders who pocket huge paychecks despite the wretched performance of their companies. For instance, since Kenneth D. Lewis took over as top executive of Bank of America in April, 2001, the firm’s annual return of -8% (as reported by Forbes Magazine) significantly trailed the record of the S & P 500, but Mr. Lewis has received compensation that averages more than $30 million annually. Fortunately, many other bosses offer a wholesome contrast to the well-publicized instances of lavish pay for poor performance. Since...

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, has an excellent op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal outlining his vision for a plan to reform American health care. While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction—toward less government control and more individual empowerment. Here are eight reforms that would greatly lower the cost...

Protesters are hoping a boycott will cut into the success of Whole Foods, the 10th largest food and drug store in the U.S., which reported sales of $1.8 billion for last quarter, a 2 percent increase from the previous quarter. Calls to boycott Whole Foods Market are growing louder and more sophisticated following a Wall Street Journal opinion article by the company's chief executive, John Mackey, in which he criticized President Obama's health care plan and offered his own alternative. Mackey's article first prompted individuals to threaten taking their business elsewhere. But now the Progressive Review, an online alternative publication,...

A. Barry Rand, chairman of the Board of Trustees at Howard University and a nationally recognized agent for social change, has been tapped as AARP’s new chief executive officer, it was announced Thursday. Rand, 64, a former top executive at Xerox and Avis Rent A Car, will succeed Bill Novelli when he takes over the association’s top post on April 6. He will become AARP’s first African American CEO. According to an AARP press release, Rand is “a catalyst for social change and inclusion in the workplace.” He was selected to lead AARP after a national search that lasted nearly...

Perhaps it's the Russ Feingold influence. Feingold, when he served in the Wisconsin Legislature before traipsing off to Washington, was the bulldog behind legislation that outlawed gifts and other perks to legislators, things like free dinners and drinks, pen sets and the like, or even a cup of coffee. The idea was that legislators ought not be beholden to anyone except the people who elected them. Conversely, lawmakers are not to lavish favors on lobbyists and other influence peddlers. So by law they are to pay for their own meals and reimburse their hosts when they get something of value...

Apple on Monday announced that Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, is resigning from Apple’s board of directors. Schmidt has been on Apple’s board since 2006. In a tersely worded statement issued by the company on Monday morning, Apple CEO Steve Jobs noted Schmidt’s departure, while lauding Schmidt’s contribution on Apple’s board. “Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple’s core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, we have...

No further details at this time.

Yes, big business has not covered itself with glory over the last several years. Yes, it's unfair that the banks managed to screw up multiple times -- and still got bailed out to the tune of $700 billion in taxpayer money. Yes, the U.S. automakers have been messing up for decades; they shouldn't have had one more cent in bailout money. Yes, AIG insurance giant should have been left to rot rather than getting billions on the taxpayer dime. But, does the White House really think that the best way to hold some of these corporate miscreants -- or, at...

Four of the most powerful business leaders in America arrived at the White House one day last month for lunch with President Barack Obama, sitting down in his private dining room just steps from the Oval Office. But even for powerful CEOs, there’s no such thing as a free lunch: White House staffers collected credit card numbers for each executive and carefully billed them for the cost of the meal with the president. The White House defended the unusual move as a way to avoid conflicts of interest. But the Bush administration didn’t charge presidential guests for meals, one former...

On Tuesday the CEO of Wal-Mart, long the bête noire of the American left, issued a joint statement with SEIU head Andy Stern and Center for American Progress President John Podesta, two close allies of Barack Obama, supporting the administration's health reform efforts. The letter called for bipartisan reforms that include an employer mandate to purchase health insurance for their employees. An odd alliance? Maybe. But when two camps eye the same goal for separate reasons, they can become unlikely bedfellows. For the Obama administration, this announcement comes at a particularly convenient time. The president's health reform effort has hit...

General Electric is getting yet more taxpayer money, possibly laundered federal money, to subsidize its business. A GE press release announced that the state of Michigan will provide GE with $60 million to build a $100 million “technology & software center” — what used to be known as an “office building.”

In a major break with most other large companies, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Tuesday told the White House that it supports requiring employers to provide health insurance to workers, a centerpiece of President Barack Obama's effort to provide near-universal coverage to Americans. The support of Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, could give momentum to one of the most-contentious aspects of legislation taking shape in Congress to fix the health system. To help pay for covering the 46 million uninsured, lawmakers have proposed mandating that all but small employers provide insurance for workers or help pay for it. Lobbies for large...

We were just reading through a little more of this proposal from Wal-Mart (WMT) and liberal thinktank Center for American Progress for some kind of law that would require all employers to provide health insurance. We already said why we think it's a ridiculous idea and that the CAP and its star blogger Matthew Yglesias are being used big-time by a company that wants to raise costs for its rivals. In looking though their supporting letter (.pdf) this line jumped out at us big time: In 2008, half of all people filing for home foreclosure cited medical problems as a...

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest private employer, announced in a letter to President Obama today that it will support a requirement that all businesses provide health insurance coverage as part of sweeping health reform legislation. The endorsement of the so-called employer mandate represents a dramatic reversal for the retailing giant and a boost for the White House as it tries to inject momentum into its top domestic priority. “We are for shared responsibility,” Wal-Mart President and CEO Mike Duke wrote. “Not every business can make the same contributions, but everyone must make some contribution.” The letter, which was co-signed by the...

Jeff Immelt, chairman and chief executive of GE, has highlighted his fears of protectionism and called on President Barack Obama to steer US foreign policy toward more open relations with rest of the world, particularly China and the Middle East, to help American companies foster exports and drive economic growth. Jeff Immelt has called for President Obama to initiate more open foreign relations In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph before the opening of the London Business School's Global Leadership Summit on Monday, Mr Immelt said: "US foreign policy needs to be first and foremost focused on the US...

It pays to be in the tank for the president. All of the "tinkle down my leg" news coverage is paying off big for NBC News' parent company. By taking advantage of its ownership of two tiny banks in Utah, GE has been able to issue $80 Billion dollars worth of federally backed loans about one out of every four dollars available in the program. And true to being a friend of the President, General Electric didn't have to go through any of the burdens other participants had to go through like the financial stress test. Nor did they have...

San Francisco, CA (AHN) - Apple CEO Steve Jobs had a liver transplant, according to multiple media reports. The Wall Street Journal was first to report that Jobs had the operation two months ago and is preparing to come back to work part time. Jobs did not return requests for comment from the newspaper. Jobs has been on medical leave for months because of an undisclosed illness. Since then, Apple has released several new products, including a new iPhone. Jobs successfully battled pancreatic cancer in 2004. He looked pale and thin at a conference in January, raising concerns that the...

Just breaking on BNO News. No story to link too at this time.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Let's go back to me, myself, on this show March 30th, I said this. RUSH ARCHIVE: He doesn't know anything about the automobile business. He doesn't know how to change a tire. The automobile business needs car guys, people that love grease, get in there, manufacture these engines and cars, great designs, lines, make people want to go out and buy these cars. Car companies have to be run by financial people today because they're basically health care and retirement funds.

A look at some of the most luxurious executive perks Economic downturn might make some of these doozies obsolete Sunday, May 24, 2009 3:42 AM By Alistair Barr Running big public companies is hard work, so many executives get a little help to keep their noses to the grindstone. Use of company jets, cars and drivers, free home security, free financial-planning advice and country-club memberships are some of the common rewards. Some of these perks keep coming after retirement. Even in death, the money keeps flowing in the form of so-called golden coffins. In the midst of the worst global...

Black Fortune 500 CEOs with a "babyface"appearance are more likely to lead companies with higher revenues and prestige than black CEOs who look more mature, an upcoming study says. In contrast with research showing that white executives are hindered by babyface characteristics, a disarming appearance can help black CEOs by counteracting the stigma that black men are threatening, according to the study from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. The study is scheduled to be published in the journal Psychological Science in September. A babyface is characterized by combinations of attributes, including a round face, full cheeks, larger forehead, small...

The chief executive of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on Tuesday called for new standards on how Wall Street executives are compensated and new regulation of large hedge funds and private equity funds.

Let's just get this out of the way right up front: The former CEO of General Motors, Rick Wagoner, is a spineless, gutless, cupcake. Not only did he run General Motors into the ground (from the time he took the reins as CEO in 2000, until the time he was fired by President Obama at the end of last month, GM stock lost 98% of its value), which means he sucked at his job as a car executive. But Wagoner is guilty of an even bigger crime than that. He allowed the United States government to take control of America's...

<p>DETROIT – General Motors Corp.'s new chief executive said Tuesday that more of the automaker's plants could close and bankruptcy is "more probable" as GM works to meet new, tougher requirements for government aid.</p> <p>In his first news conference as CEO, Fritz Henderson said he expects the company would "need to take further measures" beyond the five plants the company said it would shutter when it submitted a restructuring plan to the government last month.</p>

  www.iowapresidentialwatch.com

The Obama administration asked Rick Wagoner, the chairman and CEO of General Motors, to step down and he agreed, a White House official said. On Monday, President Barack Obama is to unveil his plans for the auto industry, including a response to a request for additional funds by GM and Chrysler. The plan is based on recommendations from the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, headed by the Treasury Department. The White House confirmed Wagoner was leaving at the government's behest after The Associated Press reported his immediate departure, without giving a reason. General Motors issued a vague statement...

President Barack Obama wants to hear from the chief executives of some of the country's biggest banks as he caps a week in which he clarified his overall plan for stabilizing the financial system. The president was set to take the temperature of the bank CEOs on Friday at the White House. The session will be the latest in a series of such meetings Obama has had with financial industry representatives and business executives since taking office amid the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also will attend the meeting.

Yes: Their conflicts of interest mean they don’t deliver on credibility By GARY SNYDER The charitable sector is struggling to keep the public’s confidence because it lacks good governance, financial accountability, transparency and provisions against conflicts of interests. It mirrors the attributes —- greed, arrogance and outrageous corporate behavior —- assigned to the for-profit sector. Angel Food Ministries is an example. It joins the ever-growing list of nonprofits that feel their mission gives them reason not to subscribe to generally acceptable charitable guidelines. Their mission is not unique, but their practices are. Fat salaries, loans approved but not by an...

Senator Dodd admitting lying the other day - actually knowing about the stimulus bill allowances for AIG execs to receive bonuses from taxpayer dollars - came as really no surprise considering how he receives more financial backing from banking interests and lobbyists than any other politician (second to him in the Senate was Obama). HR 1586 is tantamount to political theater when considering its loopholes; HR 1586 is ridden by constitutional questions on whether it is a bill of attainder or even an ex post facto law - at the very least it's an under-the-table "mea culpa" by the Dems...

WASHINGTON D.C. -- The Walt Disney Company has edited out of the webcast version of its March 10 annual shareholder meeting an incident in which Disney CEO Robert Iger dropped the "f-bomb" on conservative activist and Disney investor Tom Borelli. Iger scowled at and said "f--- you" to Tom Borelli, director of the National Center for Public Policy Research's Free Enterprise Project, at Tuesday's annual Disney shareholder meeting after Borelli told shareholders about Iger's refusal to sell the DVD or the distribution rights of the miniseries "The Path to 9/11." Borelli, who was attending the meeting on behalf of the...

Bank of America’s request for $20bn of government money to prop up its acquisition of Merrill Lynch was a “tactical mistake” that made the bank appear as weak as Citigroup, Ken Lewis, BofA’s chief executive told the Financial Times on Monday. But Mr Lewis said he would stay on as CEO of the North Carolina-based bank until it paid back the $45bn of government money it received under the US Treasury’s bank recapitalisation programme, possibly within two to three years. This is the first time he has signalled his plans to leave the company. However, he expressed regret that an...

EMPE, Ariz. — Mark Cooper started his work day on a recent morning cleaning the door handles of an office building with a rag, vigorously shaking out a rug at a back entrance and pushing a dust mop down a long hallway. Nine months ago he lost his job as the security manager for the western United States for a Fortune 500 company, overseeing a budget of $1.2 million and earning about $70,000 a year. Now he is grateful for the $12 an hour he makes in what is known in unemployment circles as a “survival job” at a friend’s...

FedEx CEO: use of foreign oil threatens US economy The Associated Press - Feb 23, 2009 Chief Executive Fred Smith said Monday that US reliance on foreign oil is the biggest threat to the nation's economy after terrorism.

In President Barack Obama’s Cabinet, there is a Nobel Prize winner, a former mayor and a veteran CIA agent. Surrounding him in the White House West Wing are a former four-star general, one of the nation’s most eminent economists and a handful of this generation’s most talented political operatives. This constellation of talent, however, has something of a black hole. There is virtually no one on Obama’s team with outsized achievements or a high-profile reputation earned in the world of business.

video/audio 5 minutes 11 seconds

Academy award-winning actor Sidney Poitier told CNSNews.com that the salaries of CEOs everywhere, not just those of U.S. banks, should be capped at $500,000 per year. At the beginning of February, President Obama put a $500,000 per year cap on the salaries of bank CEOs as part of the $700 billion financial bailout. When asked if the salaries of CEOs in Hollywood should be capped at $500,000 per year given the current economic crisis, Poitier said the cap should not be restricted to just Hollywood or U.S. banks.