Sustainable Finance Newsletter - Precedent for Musk's F-bomb

Scotts Miracle-Gro

06/12/2023 17:00

(In section of newsletter titled "Musk's crass phrase follows
trends" please note language that readers might find offensive
in paragraphs 4 and 11)
    By Ross Kerber
       Dec 6 (Reuters) - With Elon Musk there's always more to
the story, I was reminded after writing about his use of a
profanity last week. 
    
Analysts I spoke with couldn't recall a similar case of a
business executive cursing at their own customers but it turned
out that - who else? - the leader of promoter Ultimate Fighting
Championship rolled out the same phrase on a podcast last month.
    
I know it's part of a broader social shift to informality but we
all will be sorry when bad language doesn't shock us anymore.
(And what will the poor screenwriters do on that day?)
    
You will also find links to stories on the COP28 climate
conference in Dubai and how new deals with labor haven't stopped
GM from rewarding shareholders as well.
        
  
Please connect with me on LinkedIn where I welcome comments and
feedback. If you have a news tip, potential content, or general
thoughts feel free to email me at         
    This week's top stories
  
    Fossil fuel phase-out among options on COP28 table    
    EU's electric dreams short-circuited by EV charging gridlock
  
    Western start-ups seek to break China's grip on rare earths
refining
  
    
    Musk's crass phrase follows trends
  
Elon Musk's use of a profanity last week at a conference
surprised analysts who couldn't recall a similar case of a
business leader publicly cursing at their customers.

But the behavior of the Tesla  TSLA.O  CEO has precedent, in two
ways. There has been a higher level of public profanity from
business leaders, research shows. Also, Ultimate Fighting
Championship CEO Dana White made the same comment just last
month.
    
White appeared on the podcast of comedian Theo Von last month
and used the same language as Musk when describing what he told
a major sponsor who asked him to delete a post supporting former
U.S. President Donald Trump.

"You know what I said? Go Fuck Yourself," White said on the
podcast. 
   
If White's language was Musk's inspiration it wouldn't be the
first time the billionaire had engaged with the martial-arts
kingmaker. Over the summer White reportedly was in talks with
Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about a possible cage match,
though it didn't happen.

Representative to UFC's parent company, TKO Group,  TKO.N  and
for Tesla did not respond to questions. A representative for
Musk's social media platform X did not immediately respond to
questions.

So far this year executives have used profanity on 179 different
corporate conference calls, according to Alphasense, a New
York-based financial research platform. That is about the same
as last year's count of 180 times and up from 92 times in 2018.
    
    Georgetown University linguistics professor Deborah Tannen
said the rise in business-call profanity matches a broader trend
toward more informality in public discourse.
    
    The shift may not be all bad. Tannen also said, via email,
that "Innumerable topics and contexts that in the not too
distant past were never mentioned in public -- mental illness,
eg -- are now discussed openly." 
Nick Mazing, Alphasense director of research noted some limits
in the data. For one thing the count treats all uses of
profanity the same: a call on which an executive throws out
multiple naughty words would be counted the same as one where an
errant NSFW phrase was an anomaly.

A prolific CEO swear-er is Jim Hagedorn of Scotts Miracle-Gro,
 SMG.N , who for instance on Nov. 1 told an analyst on a
conference call that "Dude, you've been eating your fucking
Wheaties," according to a spokesman.

In an interview Hagedorn said he admires Musk for his
creativity, and that he values his own reputation for straight
talk. But, Hagedorn said, "It's a fine line between being seen
as crass and unsophisticated, and being seen as honest and
passionate." 

Hagedorn said he has sworn at major customers behind closed
doors, but never in a hostile way. "Would I curse out my
customer in public? Definitely not," Hagedorn said. He added he 
considers the leaders of major retailers who carry his products
as friends. 

"I think maybe the difference with Musk and his advertisers is,
he's not friends with them," Hagedorn said.

One more thing: On Nov. 21 New York City's top investment
officer, Comptroller Brad Lander, said Tesla's board should
sanction Musk if he did not take steps such as removing his
endorsement of an antisemitic comment on his social media
platform X and apologizing for it.

Musk did apologize at his appearance last week. But the
endorsement remained online as of Tuesday and Lander said he has
yet to hear back from a letter he sent Tesla's board.

"Elon Musk’s behavior was not reflective of what we as
shareholders expect in company leadership. I called for board
action in my letter in addition to accountability from Mr. Musk.
I have yet to hear back from them at all," Lander said in a
statement provided by a representative.
    
Tesla and Musk did not respond to questions about Lander's
remarks sent to the company. A representative for X did not
immediately respond to questions.
    
    Company News 
  
New labor deals will cost GM $9.3 billion, even as it spelled
out $10 billion in share buybacks and a 33% dividend increase.
This story puts some important context around the
sometimes-competing interests of workers and investors.

Colleague Tommy Wilkes had an important story last week about
how four top banks quit a big initiative to scrub corporate
climate targets, worried it could stop them from financing
fossil fuels. 
    
The looming shutdown of a lucrative First Quantum copper mine in
Panama could hit the country's economic growth, after the
country's Supreme Court ruled the mine's contract was
unconstitutional. 
        
    On my radar 
  
    A deal between Canada and Google  GOOGL.O  will keep news
stories in search results and require the tech giant to pay out
$74 million annually to news publishers. Let's see if it prompts
changes by Meta  META.O , the other goliath that has sucked up
gobs of advertising dollars from publishers, and has already
blocked news sharing on Facebook and Instagram.
        
Top fund firms are giving their investors proxy-voting choices,
which could blunt criticism over their ESG stances. On Tuesday
Vanguard said it would let investors in $100 billion worth of
funds including its Vanguard Russell 1000 Index Fund  VONE.O 
choose among four voting policy options in early 2024.

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Our results are @#$%!    https://tmsnrt.rs/3Rw4eRa
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 (Reporting by Ross Kerber. Additional reporting by Tim
McLaughlin; Editing by David Gregorio)
 ((ross.kerber@thomsonreuters.com; (617) 412 0093;))