IntroductionLIVE from your ESG-powered Vitamix A3500 Ascent Series Smart Blender, it’s a Business Pants Friday Show here at December 13th Studios, featuring AnalystHole Matt Moscardi. On today’s weekly wrap up: Ongoing NEO murder stuff, Rupert Murdoch fails to screw over 75% of his children, God eats McDonald’s, and hot sauce is going wokeOur show today is being sponsored by Free Float Analytics, the only platform measuring board power, connections, and performance for FREE.Story of the Week (DR):NEO shooter, continued MMUnitedHealth Group CEO addresses Brian Thompson death, says healthcare system is 'flawed'“a brilliant, kind man who was working to make health care better for everyone”No proof of that, of course“When a colleague proposed a new idea to Brian, he would always ask, “Would you want this for your own family?” If not, end of discussion.”Also, really?“His dad spent more than 40 years unloading trucks at grain elevators. B.T., as we knew him, worked farm jobs as a kid and fished at a gravel pit with his brother.“See, he’s one of youFoxbusiness and foxnews is referring to Luigi as “ivy league graduate Luigi Mangione”“The ideas he advocated were aimed at making health care more affordable, more transparent, more intuitive, more compassionate — and more human. That’s Brian’s legacy, one that we will carry forward by continuing our work to make the health system work better for everyone.”His other legacy is TSC of $30M over past 3 years and roughly $40M in equity“we also are struggling to make sense of this unconscionable act and the vitriol that has been directed at our colleagues who have been barraged by threats. No employees — be they the people who answer customer calls or nurses who visit patients in their homes — should have to fear for their and their loved ones’ safety.”Amazing deflection because people are clearly angry at the… EXECUTIVESBut maybe he DOES understand the vitriol:“We know the health system does not work as well as it should, and we understand people’s frustrations with it.”“Clearly, we are not there yet. We understand and share the desire to build a health care system that works better for everyone.”“Health care is both intensely personal and very complicated, and the reasons behind coverage decisions are not well understood. We share some of the responsibility for that.”“No one would design a system like the one we have. … Our mission is to help make it work better.”It’s true, that’s basically their hollow mission statement. And I suppose massive profit helps with that goal?UnitedHealth Group annual gross profit for 2023 was $90.958B, a 14.24% increase from 2022.UnitedHealth Group annual gross profit for 2022 was $79.617B, a 14.31% increase from 2021.UnitedHealth Group annual gross profit for 2021 was $69.652B, a 3.96% increase from 2020.There’s also this part of their mission statement: “We dedicate ourselves to this every day for our members by being there for what matters in moments big and small — from their earliest days, to their working years and through retirement.”Which doesn’t exactly gel with: UnitedHealthcare's claim denial rate is 32%, which is higher than the industry average of around 17%UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect arrested; charged with murderLuigi Mangione wasn't a UnitedHealthcare member, may have targeted company because of size and influence: NYPDUnitedHealth Group CEO says slain exec Brian Thompson was ‘one of the good guys’ in leaked memo to 400,000 employeesFormer Aetna CEO says he’d eliminate employer-sponsored insurance to fix the U.S. healthcare industry in wake of UnitedHealthcare shootingUnitedHealthcare CEO’s death is being mocked on LinkedIn—a move that could hurt careers, says HR expertRupert Murdoch Fails in Bid to Change Family Trust A Nevada commissioner has ruled against Rupert Murdoch's legal attempt to alter his family trust so that his eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, will control the family's media and business empire when he diesBarring a successful appeal, the decision ensures Murdoch's media empire will be left equally to his four oldest children, who are not all ideologically aligned with the conservative views of Rupert and Lachlan.Notably, James Murdoch — once considered a contender to take over the family business — resigned from the board of News Corp. in 2020, citing disagreements over editorial content published by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.U.S. appeals court tosses Nasdaq diversity rules for company boardsThe conservative-majority New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Securities and Exchange Commission did not have the power to approve the rule that required companies to ensure women and minority directors were on their boards or provide an explanation of why this was not the case.It was implemented after George Floyd's killing pushed companies to address racial inequality and...
