Archive for the ‘Investor Relations’ Category

Speaking Up for Shareholders at Time Warner

May 22, 2007

At the Time Warner shareholder meeting microphones were set up around the room for comments.  I couldn’t resist, making a point about how media companies are vulnerable to a crisis arriving at Internet speed.  I said that Time Warner handled the arrest of HBO head Chris Albrecht on domestic charges ‘about as well as it could’ by firing him ASAP.  Then I brought up two other Time Warner properties ripe for potential crises.

One is TMZ.COM, a celebrity gossip/paparazzi site that many see as a disaster waiting to happen, with paparazzi engaging in car chases, harassment of celebrities and their kids, and pitched street battles with other photographers to get shots.   Then I mentioned Lou Dobbs on CNN with his “protect our borders” rhetoric, as having potential for crisis impacting Time Warner. I asked how the company planned to deal with it. 

“That’s a good question,” said Richard Parsons.  “Everything he says is clearly labeled as opinion.”  I don’t think so, but at least Parsons addressed the question.  The news media, on the other hand, only got part of my point; The Hollywood Reporter did it best, at least mentioning the Lou Dobbs issue. 

Claudia Eller of the LA Times, who did great reporting on the Albrecht assault, couldn’t let go of it in her piece .  “One shareholder mentioned Albrecht in passing, praising Time Warner for acting swiftly in discharging the executive after he was arrested in Las Vegas for assaulting his girlfriend and after the Los Angeles Times ran a story about his 1991 physical altercation with a subordinate.”

 When you’re the ‘covered’, as opposed to doing the ‘covering’ as a journalist, it’s interesting to see what gets picked up–and what doesn’t.  

Posted in Advertising, Investor Relations, Journalism, Media Training, Time-Warner, business-journalism | No Comments »

Ringmaster Richard Parsons Tames Time Warner Crowd

May 22, 2007

On May 17  I attended the Time Warner annual meeting in Burbank.   CEO Richard Parsons gave a presentation, told us “we toil on your behalf” and said after years of “going sideways, we finally got some movement in the stock.”  He pointed to the board of directors, “I work for them, they work for you.”

He went over numbers and showed graphics like InStyle with Haile Berry, Bugs Bunny and CNN with Anderson Cooper, adding ”I’d like to salute publicly our journalists who put themselves in harm’s way.”

Befitting the Warner Brothers location, he showed a pair of film clips.  The latest Harry Potter looked vivid and great, while the new Hairspray left me wondering if John Travolta (in drag as the mom) has a speech impediment.  Parsons noted the studio won 10 Oscars in 2007, but I don’t see Travolta finally getting his for this.  Nonetheless, Parsons urged the audience to see the films “early and often.”

“Can old media exist in a digital world?” is the challenge for content creators, according to Parsons, and is something a writer like myself  struggles with every day.  “We’re in the content creation business; ink on paper, television, video.  Our challenge is to move our company into digital, whether you own it, rent it, watch it on an iPOD.”

Parsons is unflappable, as befits a man who says he’s a big fan of Happy Feet.  He also has a good sense of humor, staying calm while noted corporate gadfly John Chevvedden talked about Parson’s high ($22 million) compensation.  When another stockholder admonished Parsons for selling Google years ago, he said, “We could have done better, but no one has ever gone broke taking a profit.”

What’s Time Warner all about?  Parsons put it this way:

1. Make money for our shareholders.

2. Do some good in the world.

3. Have some fun doing it. 

From a media training point of view, couldn’t have said it better myself.

Posted in CNN, Investor Relations, Media Training, Public Relations, Publishing, Shareholder Revolt, Time-Warner, corporate-gadflies | No Comments »

Evelyn Y. Davis and Proxy Season Follies

April 26, 2007

If it’s spring, the proxy-season circus is in town.  At this time of year, public relations and IR (Investor Relations) pros prepare for their corporation’s annual shareholder meetings.  Shockingly enough, these meetings are often stage-managed to cheerlead for the CEO and avoid controversy. 

But even when IR folks try to keep things under control, often the meetings turn into bizarre theatre.  At a Ford shareholder meeting in Irvine, California, I watched noted shareholder ‘gadfly’ Evelyn Y. Davis fawn over then-CEO Bill Ford with an unsettling mix of maternal concern and lust.  Later, he personally delivered her new Jaguar.

Whether it’s Citibank or among the restive shareholders of the New York Times, Evelyn is on the case.  I’ve written about her, and she always has a lot to say: When Safeway’s general counsel implored “Miss Davis” to be quiet, “It’s Mrs. Davis,” she insisted.  I’ve had three husbands.” At Morgan Stanley, Davis threatened, “When I’m gone, my ghost will appear at the meeting.”  Replied Chairman Philip Purcell, “We look forward to your ghost.”

Purcell and Ford show the right way for CEOs to respond to gadflys like Evelyn; listen patiently, act when their suggestions are appropriate and reasonable, keep your sense of humor. 

It’s easy to snicker at the gadflies.   But often dissident stockholders have a point.  Unchallenged, bad corporate leadership can damage even the strongest company—like this software architect whose biggest innovation appears to be creating the 35-day month and 100-day quarter for booking revenue and making numbers.

Posted in Evelyn Y. Davis, Ford, Investor Relations, Journalism, Public Relations, Shareholder Revolt, evelyn-davis, morgan-stanley | 2 Comments »