Episode Details

Introduction

LIVE from your ESG USB-C DIY LOL DEI Vape Pen, it’s a Business Pants Friday Show here at October 18th Studios, featuring all of your favorites: AnalystHole Matt Moscardi! On today’s weekly wrap up: Meta employees have acne but don’t call CVS’s Karen Lynch, meth-flavored TikTok, 3-headed CEOs, and even one-headed CEOs named Jamie that love to talk 

Our 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):

CVS ousts CEO Karen Lynch, names Caremark head as new chief DR MM

CVS Health Corp. named David Joyner as its new chief executive officer, ending a tumultuous tenure for current CEO Karen Lynch at the pharmacy giant.

Longtime executive Joyner, 60, took over Thursday, according to a Friday release. The move comes after the company repeatedly missed earnings targets, setting off unrest among shareholders that spilled into public view in recent weeks.

Last month, major CVS shareholder Glenview Capital began a significant push for changes at the company, CNBC previously reported.

CNBC reported last month that CVS’ board had engaged strategic advisors to weigh its options, including the potential of a breakup of its insurance and retail businesses.

Joyner most recently oversaw the company’s pharmacy services business as president of CVS Caremark, a similar position to the one Lynch held before she assumed the top job in February 2021. He began his career at Aetna in pharmacy benefit services and previously held the role of executive vice president of sales and marketing at CVS Health.

“We believe David and his deep understanding of our integrated business can help us more directly address the challenges our industry faces, more rapidly advance the operational improvements our company requires, and fully realize the value we can uniquely create,” Chairman Roger Farah said in a statement.

Lynch also stepped down from the company’s board of directors this week, the company said Friday. Joyner will take a seat on the board, and Farah will assume the role of executive chairman.

FFA: Karen Lynch (16%) vs. Roger Farah (16%)

Meta fires staff for abusing $25 meal credits

Meta recently fired some employees for misusing a Grubhub meal perk.

Roughly two dozen employees were terminated for abusing the company's meal credit system.

The Grubhub perk is intended to support employees who work at locations where free meals aren't provided by a cafeteria or when employees work late and need food delivered to the office.

Instead of purchasing meals, some Meta employees used the $25 credit to order other items, including laundry detergent, wine glasses, and acne pads, the person familiar with the situation said.

The roughly two dozen staff were fired for a repeated pattern of misuse

Amazon invests in nuclear energy, hot on the heels of Google and Microsoft

Big Tech continues to go nuclear as the artificial-intelligence boom drives energy demand to new heights.

Amazon announced on Wednesday that it's anchoring a $500 million investment for X-energy to develop small, advanced modular nuclear reactors, which would provide carbon-free power for some of its data centers.

Microsoft last month helped advance a plan to reopen the Three Mile Island plant, the site of one of the worst nuclear disasters in US history, and Google on Monday announce