Postcards
Power Point: Give the money back!
March 18, 2009: 6:29 PM ET"It was distasteful to make these payments."
AIG (AIG) chief Ed Liddy, testifying today before a House Financial Services subcommittee. He was, of course, talking about the infamous $165 million in retention bonuses that the bailed-out conglomerate paid out to employees. Liddy—who took charge in September and is working for $1 a year and no bonus—told Congress that employees who took home more than $100,000 in bonuses have been asked to return at least half their sum.
Good move. But Liddy is still under scrutiny for approving those bonuses in the first place. He told Congress that he determined that the bonuses couldn't be legally altered. And he said he believed that retention bonuses at AIG's financial products unit were necessary so that competition wouldn't steal the company's best talent.
That argument is weak. As my Fortune colleague Carol Loomis said on the Charlie Rose Show last evening, optics are ever important, and Liddy would have been far better off telling AIG employees that it wouldn't look good to take bonuses, so you're not getting yours. The New York Times' Gretchen Morgenson noted on the show that there aren't many financial-services companies hiring. Who would steal AIG's best talent?
When in crisis--or rather, always!--do the right thing. J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon tells a story about his team refusing to take bonuses at Bank One when he took charge of that company and it was on the brink almost a decade ago. Click here to read "Jamie Dimon: No bonuses for you!" - Pattie Sellers
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Meet Yahoo's new CEO, Carol Bartz
Yahoo named Carol Bartz its new chief. With an appointment of Bartz, the former CEO and current executive chairman of Autodesk (ADSK), the Yahoo (YHOO) board is signaling that experience in general management and tech trumps a media and advertising background. Just as important, this is a bet on a boss known for guts and decisiveness - the latter a critical trait that Jerry Yang, the boss she is replacing, MORE
Patricia Sellers - Jan 13, 2009 4:05 PM ET -
Wisdom of the ages
This morning I read about the Democrats' hush-hush plan to ease Senator Robert Byrd out of his powerful post as chairman of the Appropriations Committee. Byrd is 90. What's most interesting here is who would inherit his job: Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii. Inouye is 84.
Age is relative, as they say. We're living longer. Our minds stay stronger. And particularly these days, age may be an advantage.
Look around at who's MORE
Jessica Shambora, Writer-Reporter - Oct 29, 2008 3:00 PM ET -
Warren Buffett in "heaven": the photo gallery
Amidst the chaos in the markets, it's difficult to find time to breathe, much less pore over 2,500 pictures from our Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in early October. But I finally made it through our trove and want to share part of it with you.
If you've been reading Postcards, you know that we had Warren Buffett with us for three days. What a treat. More than that, the Berkshire MORE
Jessica Shambora, Writer-Reporter - Oct 24, 2008 3:11 PM ETPosted in: Arianna Huffington, berkshire hathaway, Carol Loomis, CEOs, FORTUNE Most Powerful Women Summit, FORTUNE MPWomen, Goldman Sachs, Huffington Post, investing, Jennifer Buffett, Lloyd Blankfein, Martha Stewart, Martha's blog, Melinda Gates, Postcards, Susie Buffett, Ursula Burns, Wall Street, Warren Buffett, Xerox -
Behind the Buffett and Blankfein meeting
Where did America's richest man and one of Wall Street's most powerful CEOs meet face to face for the first time after their $5 billion deal? The Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, a three-day, invitation-only gathering of the world's most prominent women leaders.
So who let the guys in? Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) and Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO Lloyd Blankfein were two of just three men invited this year; MORE
Patricia Sellers - Oct 16, 2008 3:16 PM ETPosted in: Andy Serwer, banks, berkshire hathaway, Carol Loomis, CEO, CEOs, consumer goods, Fortune Most Powerful Women list, FORTUNE MPWomen, Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit, GE, General Electric, Goldman Sachs, Goldman Sachs/Fortune Global Women Leaders Award, GS, investing, Investor, Leadership by Geoff Colvin, Lloyd Blankfein, Melanie Healey, Mentoring, Most Powerful Women, MPWomen Go Global, P&G, Postcards, Procter & Gamble, stock market, Wall Street, Warren Buffett -
Today at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit
My colleague Carol Loomis interviewed Warren Buffett today here at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in North San Diego. Buffett told us that he came up with a big idea literally while walking to the session this morning. Click here to read "Buffett: My fix for the economy."
Another highlight: Time Inc. CEO Ann Moore did a great on-stage chat with PepsiCo (PEP) CEO Indra Nooyi. Silicon Valley talent maven Juliet Flint MORE
Patricia Sellers - Oct 2, 2008 5:31 PM ETPosted in: Ann Moore, Carol Loomis, CEOs, consumer goods, eBay, Facebook, FORTUNE Most Powerful Women Summit, FORTUNE MPWomen, Indra Nooyi, Leadership by Geoff Colvin, Lorrie Norrington, management, Mary Meeker, Meg Whitman, Postcards, Procter & Gamble, Sheryl Sandberg, Silicon Valley, Susan Arnold, Ursula Burns, Warren Buffett, Xerox -
Buffett and more at Fortune's MPWomen Summit
Greetings from Southern California! We're here for Fortune's 10th annual Most Powerful Women Summit which, even with all that turmoil across the global markets, is drawing the heaviest hitters in business, starting with Warren Buffett and Lloyd Blankfein.
The world's greatest investor and the Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO will be at our opening dinner tonight. It's a crazy coincidence since we invited these two men (our first time inviting men) months ago. Then, last week, the MORE
Patricia Sellers - Oct 1, 2008 1:57 PM ETPosted in: ADM, Andy Serwer, Ann Moore, banks, Carol Loomis, CEO, CEOs, debate, Fortune Most Powerful Women list, FORTUNE Most Powerful Women Summit, FORTUNE MPWomen, Goldman Sachs, Goldman Sachs/Fortune Global Women Leaders Award, Indra Nooyi, Joe Biden, Lloyd Blankfein, Martha Stewart, Meg Whitman, Melinda Gates, Most Powerful Women, Most Powerful Women Summit, MPWomen, MPWomen Go Global, MPWomen list, MPWomen Summit, P&G, Pat Woertz, PepsiCo, philanthropy, Postcards, Procter & Gamble, Sarah Palin, Silicon Valley, Susan Arnold, Ursula Burns, Wall Street, Warren Buffett, Wii, Xerox -
Meredith Whitney: From Fortune to CNBC to WWE
Did you see WWE Raw Monday night? I did. First time ever. Why? (Good question!) Because Fortune was front and center. Big John Bradshaw Layfield, known as JBL to pro wrestling fans, was hawking our new issue for one reason: His wife, Meredith Whitney, is on the cover.
Whitney, in case you don't know, is Wall Street's force of nature. The Oppenheimer analyst has recently knocked billions off the stock-market capitalizations MORE
Patricia Sellers - Aug 5, 2008 1:21 PM ET -
A powerful woman revs ahead at Enterprise
Another prominent woman made a move Monday: Pam Nicholson, No. 44 on Fortune's Most Powerful Women in Business list, was named president and COO of Enterprise Rent-a-Car.
Enterprise may not be on your radar because the company is privately held. But it's remarkable in many ways: Enterprise is the world's largest rental car company, with revenues approaching $13 billion. (You thought Hertz and Avis were No. 1 and No. 2? Enterprise MORE
Patricia Sellers - Aug 4, 2008 4:27 PM ETPosted in: Alcatel-Lucent, Carol Loomis, CollegeGrad.com, Enterprise, entry-level employees, Erin Callan, FORTUNE MPWomen, jobs, Leadership by Geoff Colvin, Lehman Brothers, management, Morgan Stanley, Most Powerful Women, MPWomen, Pam Nicholson, Pat Russo, Postcards, Power Shift, recruiting, Zoe Cruz -
Power Point: Companies don't stumble; people do
"The companies acquired the usual encumbrances of success--among them arrogance and bureaucracy--and they devised new ways to fail as well. Or, precisely, their executives did. Companies don't stumble; people do. As Peter Drucker has said: 'Every failure is a failure of a manager.'"
-- Carol Loomis, Fortune senior editor at large, wrote this in a legendary 1993 cover story, "Dinosaurs?," about General Motors (GM), Sears (SHLD), and IBM (IBM). The article MORE
Patricia Sellers - Jul 3, 2008 2:26 PM ETPosted in: auto industry, Carol Loomis, CEOs, Eddie Lampert, Failure, General Motors, GM, IBM, Leadership by Geoff Colvin, management, Peter Drucker, Postcards, Power Point, Power Shift, Sears, Success
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Fortune Most Powerful Women
Sheryl Sandberg:
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In her first public interview since taking on the CEO gig at Yahoo, Marissa Mayer outlines her priorities both in and out of the company. Watch
Brenda Barnes famously quit a big job to be with her kids. Years later, a massive stroke nearly killed her--and her daughter returned the favor. Watch
Fortune senior editor at large Pattie Sellers has written some of Fortune's most talked-about cover stories, including "Marissa Mayer: Ready to Rumble at Yahoo," "Oprah's Next Act," "Can Meg Whitman Save California?" "The $100 Billion Woman" (Melinda Gates), and "Remodeling Martha" (Martha Stewart). She has helped oversee Fortune's "Most Powerful Women in Business" package every year since its launch in 1998. Pattie is Executive Director of the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, the preeminent gathering of women leaders in business and beyond. She oversees MPW programs that enable women leaders to extend their influence and empower the next generation—such as Fortune MPW Entrepreneurs and the Fortune-U.S. State Department Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership. Beyond her Fortune duties, she is also developing Live Content across Time Inc. Pattie grew up in Allentown, PA, graduated from the University of Virginia, and started at Fortune in 1984. Her blog, Postcards, is about how power players lead, manage others, and navigate their careers.
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The Fortune/U.S. State Department Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership brings rising-star women from countries around the world to the U.S. for three-week mentorships with participants of the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit - among them Ursula Burns of Xerox, Laura Lang of Time Inc., Marissa Mayer of Yahoo, and Tory Burch.
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