Simon Schuster Mike Pence

 April 2021 discussion on Black/LGBTQ+ authors

 Recent deal with Pence to publish memoir  betrayal of promise to oppose bigotry (diversity
commitments, 2 new posts, contest to find writers)
o Petition signed by 14% of staff (200 members), 3500 outside supporters
 Jonathan Karp CEO turned down the petition, previously rejected Rep Josh Hawley
o Don’t want to be a niche publisher, want to represent broad range of people (74m votes
for Trump)
o Similar struggles with Alphabet Inc’s Google, Apple, Delta
o Considered a tentpole book (will provide big audience to fund other books that may sell
fewer than 5000 copies)
o Political books driving growth in the industry, 62% increase in 2020  several titles out
of Simon & Schuster  serious implications and could discourage other big name
authors from working with S&S
o Weighing employee demands with company’s interests
o Pence vs Hawley b/c Pence did not challenge the election
 Brad Smith, Microsoft Pres, promised to stop funding candidates through their PAC who
challenged the election and created new initiatives
 Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan CEO doesn’t support employees restricting ability to do business with
US military
 Mohan Maheswaran, Semtech CEO promoted employee education over public statement in
George Floyd’s killing
 Dana Canedy, head of S&S imprint said everyone has right to their own narrative and legacy,
rigorous editing required, focus group comments
 Stated values of company are not aligning with actions company is taking
 Previous political tensions have not prevented S&S from publishing in the past despite
opposition, generated large portion of profits

 What business is Simon and Schuster in? How does it make money in that
business? Consider that the Vice President Mike Pence book will generate more
revenues than the money paid to Pence and the various costs of production.  Do
you think that S&S should publish the book? Is the mere fact that some
employees object to this strategy a reason to not move forward with it?
 Publishing books,

Space’s Trash Collector – Japanese Entrepreneur Wants Job

 Astroscale  first trash collection company focused on cleaning up space debris

o Millions of particles that orbit at speeds that make them deadly
o Increased risk of collisions that can disrupt communications and chain reaction
 Waste management not good for allocation of taxpayer money he believes
 Launch IDEA OSG 1 on Russian rocket to measure strikes of miniscule debris to create debris
density maps  sell to satellite operators & space agencies
 Will launch ELSA 1  can track and intercept a piece of debris via glue
 o Stuck to ELSA, will both burn up on re-entry
o Reduce weight  adhesive is only a few ounces vs 100lb robotic arm & overall weight of
machine
 Previous proposals for laser broom, machines to spear debris  challenge is building unmanned
spacecraft to intercept an object moving at 17000 mph
 Find companies that operate big satellite networks and remove malfunctioning satellites
o Avoids 1967 treaty preventing removal of man-made objects in space w/o approval of
owner

 Can Astroscale's activities create value? Will Astroscale be able to capture that value as
profits?

Ben & Jerry’s

 Unilever to use geo-location to track palm oil supply chains for farm-to-table “first-mile”
traceability
o Ben & Jerry’s Hellmann’s mayo, Dove soap
o Wants to make supply chains deforestation-free
o Palm oil can be harvested from land belonging to several farmers and mixed w/ material
from other farms/plantations before reaching mill
 Piloted in Indonesia, now will cover all palm facilities in SEA
o Palm oil used in chocolate, lipstick & shampoo
 Burning of tropical rainforests, land conflicts
 Credibility of certified-sustainable palm oil is in doubt
 Orbital Insight  uses geo-location data, satellites, drones & balloons
o Geo-fencing, anonymous mobile data & satellite imagery to monitor truck movements
and identify any deforestation that has occurred
o Farms  mills  refineries  warehouses
o Also looking at soy mills in Brazil, will see for cocoa and wood fiber
o Interest from chocolate manufacturers and furniture makers

 Will the tracking of palm oil increase Unilever’s profits?

Insurance Giant & Bail Bondsman

 Issue of skipped bail  H&H Bail Bonds Inc. 3yr partnership and American International Group
Inc (insurance)
o H&H founder Ray Hrdlicka wants to “bail when others fail”
o Criminals skipped bail, H&H filed for bankruptcy protection
o AIG faced 42M in outstanding forfeitures on bail bonds written by H&H  no collateral
o Initially promised to yield 15m-20myr for AIG
 AIG is a major provider of life insurance, largest underwriter of commercial and industrial
insurance
 Bail set, somebody pays bail-bond agent a fee of 10% of amount  accused can be free must
return to court, client has to put up collateral for no-show
 o 10% agent gets to keep, some goes to agent’s insurer for being ultimate guarantor
 H&H provided payment plans for defendants who don’t have 10% down payment
o Issue bonds based on creditworthiness not collateral
 Bail-bond business has to have backing of insurance company to assure that bail bonds are solid
o Previously Ranger Insurance Co. backed H&H’s bonds
 5% of payment required went into build-up fund to help pay forfeitures
 Ranger collects 8% for it’s cut, H&H got 87%
o 1997 AIG partnership  in insurance, insurer has to pay when there’s a legitimate claim,
bail-bond business has several layers of protection (build-up fund, commitment of H&H
to find the skip or collect on collateral, or go after co-signers)
 Told AIG 5% vs previous 8%
 AIG designted Ray as a managing general agent (authority to sign business in
insurer’s name w/o prior approval)
 Bounced checks that had been issued to clients to return collateral  H&H found ways to
continue providing payments to AIG via bondathons (writing bonds w/o co-signers or collateral)
o AIG discovered lack of collateral on 42m of outstanding forfeited bonds  reassessing
partnership
o Collateral money had been deposited in operating account rather than special account
for holdings to cover payroll
o AIG pulled his role as managing general agent
 90% of his 100,000 bonds weren’t fully collateralized
 Needs to find ways to apprehend defendants or get co-signers to pay
 Hired AmWest Insurance Group to hunt fugitives
 H&H filed for bankruptcy protection  former competitor offered to buy for 6.5m and keep Ray
as an employee
o AIG wants to block purchase and appoint a trustee

 What did Ray Hrdlicka do in order to increase the profits of H&H Bail Bonds? Why
didn’t it work?