Twitter is better

[jross]

9 hours ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

Second, no one who is serious, or understands BlackRock's business model, thinks they are coercing, or have the ability to coerce, anyone. What lever could they possibly use?

The lever is money.

BlackRock uses its role as a major investor (significant ownership in many companies) to steer corporate behavior.  They have voting power at shareholder meetings. They can vote on board elections, executive compensation, and sustainability initiatives. BlackRock can decide to invest more heavily in companies that align with their ESG criteria or divest from those that don't.

Larry Fink's letters to CEOs are a form of soft power. By publicly stating what BlackRock expects from companies, they set an expectation.

By advocating for ESG reporting, BlackRock indirectly pressures companies to change how they operate, knowing that their investment decisions hinge on this information.

Anheuser-Busch InBev has adopted DEI policies and reported on these initiatives, partly in response to investor pressure from firms like BlackRock, who emphasize ESG factors in their investment decisions.

https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/investor-relations/larry-fink-ceo-letter

--- Larry's words sound like coercion to me. "DO THIS OR LESS PAY."  

Quote

Behaviors are going to have to change. This is one thing we're asking companies: you have to force behaviors, and at BlackRock, we are forcing behaviors. 54% of our incoming class are women, and we added four more points in terms of diverse employment this year. Internally, if you don't achieve these levels of impact, your compensation could be impacted. We're doing the same thing, so it's just that you have to force behaviors. If you don't force behaviors, whether it's gender or race, or just any way you want to say the composition of your team, you're going to be impacted.

 

[jross]

10 hours ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

There is a lot wrong with your argument. First, the attached article places the blame on concerns advertisers have with Musk dating to before he even closed the deal. Media Matters is only mentioned as having taken a poll. It is GLAAD and ADL that are credited with calls to action.

Hmmm

"Angelo Carusone, the chief executive of the progressive nonprofit Media Matters for America, said on the call that he had worked on several efforts to use advertiser boycotts to pressure social media companies to clean up their platforms. Usually, he said, some of the advertisers he solicits will turn down his requests, saying that reaching potential customers is a higher priority than making a point to Silicon Valley.

But after the activist coalition reached out this week to Twitter’s top 20 advertisers, including Anheuser-Busch, Disney and Procter & Gamble, Mr. Carusone said all the companies he had been in contact with..."

[jross]

May 3, 2022!  Media Matters and others in the activist coalition call for a boycott.

https://accountabletech.org/wp-content/uploads/Letter-to-Twitter-Advertisers.pdf

[Wrestleknownothing]

18 minutes ago, jross said:

The lever is money.

BlackRock uses its role as a major investor (significant ownership in many companies) to steer corporate behavior.  They have voting power at shareholder meetings. They can vote on board elections, executive compensation, and sustainability initiatives. BlackRock can decide to invest more heavily in companies that align with their ESG criteria or divest from those that don't.

Larry Fink's letters to CEOs are a form of soft power. By publicly stating what BlackRock expects from companies, they set an expectation.

By advocating for ESG reporting, BlackRock indirectly pressures companies to change how they operate, knowing that their investment decisions hinge on this information.

Anheuser-Busch InBev has adopted DEI policies and reported on these initiatives, partly in response to investor pressure from firms like BlackRock, who emphasize ESG factors in their investment decisions.

https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/investor-relations/larry-fink-ceo-letter

--- Larry's words sound like coercion to me. "DO THIS OR LESS PAY."  

 

Your understanding of the proxy process is quaint. BlackRock owns something like 7% of every company. And they have NEVER been involved in a proxy fight. And they never will. They are fiduciaries. They must vote for their clients good, not for their own beliefs.

BlackRock cannot decide to invest more heavily in (or divest from ) a company. BackRock's 25 largest active equity funds have $78 billion in AUM. Their 25 largest passive funds have $1.75 trillion. With 95% of their equity assets following indexes, they have virtually no discretion. While his words may sound like coercion to you, they do not to CEO's who know that investment decisions are not theirs to make. He is talking about pay at BlackRock because he has no ability to influence pay elsewhere.

[Wrestleknownothing]

54 minutes ago, jross said:

May 3, 2022!  Media Matters and others in the activist coalition call for a boycott.

https://accountabletech.org/wp-content/uploads/Letter-to-Twitter-Advertisers.pdf

If that really is the issue, why is Musk not suing the Anti-Defamation League or GLAAD, who have said the same? He is going after Media Matter purely as a distraction. They are small, non-sympathetic, and easy to pick on.

[jross]

1 hour ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

Your understanding of the proxy process is quaint. BlackRock owns something like 7% of every company. And they have NEVER been involved in a proxy fight. And they never will. They are fiduciaries. They must vote for their clients good, not for their own beliefs.

BlackRock cannot decide to invest more heavily in (or divest from ) a company. BackRock's 25 largest active equity funds have $78 billion in AUM. Their 25 largest passive funds have $1.75 trillion. With 95% of their equity assets following indexes, they have virtually no discretion. While his words may sound like coercion to you, they do not to CEO's who know that investment decisions are not theirs to make. He is talking about pay at BlackRock because he has no ability to influence pay elsewhere.

That's fine that they don't replace board members and restructure the company to be sold, like what happened to my last company based on an investor with 1.2% stake...

BlackRock is the top shareholder for many companies.  Their leader helps shape corporate behavior through engagement, setting expectations, and leveraging its voting power.  Their influence is significant due to their scale.

---

https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https://www.ft.com/content/92512bcc-48b3-11ea-aee2-9ddbdc86190d

Quote

 

BlackRock rebukes Siemens on its environmental record

Fund manager makes first big intervention since issuing new policy on sustainability...

Siemens has been criticised by its largest external shareholder for failing to consider properly the “breadth of risks” it faces, as the German industrial group comes under intense scrutiny for its involvement in an Australian coal-mining project.

In BlackRock’s first intervention since it issued a policy on sustainability last month, the $7tn asset manager said Siemens’ management needed to step up their risk assessments around environmental, social and governance issues.

 

 

Edited November 19 by jross

[jross]

47 minutes ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

If that really is the issue, why is Musk not suing the Anti-Defamation League or GLAAD, who have said the same? He is going after Media Matter purely as a distraction. They are small, non-sympathetic, and easy to pick on.

Hmmm what specific action did Media Matters do later that Media Matters and others did not originally do? 

Specifically, Media Matters knowingly presented a false narrative to damage X's business, which if proven, meets the legal standards for defamation...

Edited November 19 by jross

[Danny Deck]

This is one way Twitter is much worse. 

https://x.com/paulg/status/1860810383021277424

Edited November 25 by Danny Deck

[Husker_Du]

this is what most of you left wing lunatics died on the 'elon is crazy' hill for

 

[Jason Bryant]

This is one way Twitter is much worse. 
https://x.com/paulg/status/1860810383021277424

This.

As someone who not only uses links to send people to my own content, but also routinely shares hundreds of wrestling-related links to the platform each week, it caters to the Canva Commandos out there.

Why bother posting a citation when you can just post an image with no additional context?

[Husker_Du]

i'm not sure i follow...namely what do they mean 'deprioritization' ?

does that mean it gets suppressed? 

[Danny Deck]

Suppressed might be strong.

But if you have a link in your post it won't be put in people's for you feed. Understandably, Twitter wants you to stay on platform and so links to elsewhere aren't shown to people. 

The way this usually shows up for me is an account like Unusual Whales will post: The average retail spending among Millennials and Gen Z continues to grow, per Bloomberg. With no link. 

Bloomberg will post the link to their story in their tweet, and I won't ever have the post from the entity that actually did the work shown to me because it has a link. 

In my For You page I went through 50 actual (non-ad) posts and none contained a link although some were quote tweeting tweets with links. In the Following tab, literally the first post had a link, and 3 of the first 10 included links. 

[Danny Deck]

 

[Wrestleknownothing]

Musk's ability to make money is simply stunning.

His $56 billion ($101 billion at current TSLA price) pay package got shot down again yesterday...and he is still the world's richest person by north of $100 billion.

[ionel]

1 hour ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

Musk's ability to make money is simply stunning.

His $56 billion ($101 billion at current TSLA price) pay package got shot down again yesterday...and he is still the world's richest person by north of $100 billion.

I'll be impressed when he becomes the first trillionaire or buys Mars, whichever comes first.  Till then he's just another of the numerous billionaires roaming the planet.  

[ionel]

Btw:  we are on page 82, have we reached conclusion on if Twitter is better?  

[Wrestleknownothing]

1 minute ago, ionel said:

Btw:  we are on page 82, have we reached conclusion on if Twitter is better?  

Better? Oh shoot, I thought the thread was "Twitter is bitter".

[Caveira]

7 minutes ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

Better? Oh shoot, I thought the thread was "Twitter is bitter".

It’s settled then?

it is.  

[mspart]

15 minutes ago, ionel said:

I'll be impressed when he becomes the first trillionaire or buys Mars, whichever comes first.  Till then he's just another of the numerous billionaires roaming the planet.  

Mars makes all kinds of candy.   If I was him I'd buy Mars, no doubt.  

mspart

[ionel]

3 minutes ago, mspart said:

Mars makes all kinds of candy.   If I was him I'd buy Mars, no doubt.  

mspart

Not what I was talking about but yeah I think he should and could prob buy that Mars with his spare mad money.

[Caveira]

10 minutes ago, mspart said:

Mars makes all kinds of candy.   If I was him I'd buy Mars, no doubt.  

mspart

Hoping he buys msnbc.   The Ms Maddow memes whining would be worth it.   

[Wrestleknownothing]

Big Twitter rally over at Fidelity

https://www.axios.com/2024/12/01/elon-musk-x-fidelity-mark-up?_bhlid=055e5aba4b7f28583f32471c7444b18078eafd25

[jross]

Maybe the blue party could have bought X at the $9.3B valuation that Fidelity had quoted.  That isn't much more than the $6.9B they spent on the 2024 election cycle.

[Caveira]

15 minutes ago, jross said:

Maybe the blue party could have bought X at the $9.3B valuation that Fidelity had quoted.  That isn't much more than the $6.9B they spent on the 2024 election cycle.

Didn’t they spend like 6.92 and still have not paid their bills?

[Wrestleknownothing]

The SEC has finally gotten around to Musk's purchases of Twitter stock and the associated securities laws violations. I think the SEC waited to long and now there is approximately zero chance he pays a fine. In another month he will effectively be above the law. Or more above the law. He kinda is already.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/13/elon-musk-says-sec-sent-settlement-demand-after-twitter-deal-probe.html