ENERGY

Renewable Energy and Big Oil Might Finally Mix

If you thought the beef between Brooks and Bryson was spicy, you should check out the boardroom blowout at ExxonMobil. Following a vote at the company’s shareholder meeting yesterday, the activist investment firm Engine No. 1 won at least two of the four board seats it was aiming for. This could mean monumental changes for the US’ largest oil producer.

The backstory: In December, Engine No. 1, then a brand new hedge fund, bought ~$40 million of Exxon shares—just 0.02% of the company—and sent a letter to the board with a simple request: Invest in clean energy, or else. The firm wants CEO Darren Woods to commit to bringing Exxon’s carbon emissions to zero by 2050.

Woods’s response: No. He thinks the company’s more incremental steps to address climate concerns, such as investing billions into carbon-capture tech, are sufficient.

What followed was a fight in which both sides spent a combined $65 million convincing shareholders to vote for their preferred board members. 

How can an investor with only 0.02% have that much power?

Like Glacier Freeze Gatorade, Exxon’s financial performance ain’t what it used to be. Former CEO Rex Tillerson and now Woods presided over a “decade of value destruction,” Engine No. 1 claimed, rallying some bigger shareholders to its side. 

Then, the pandemic obliterated oil demand, and Exxon posted a $22 billion loss last year, its first ever annual loss as a public company. After almost a century in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Exxon was booted from the index in August (though its share price has rebounded ~47% in the past six months).

As if there weren’t enough   emojis in the Big Oil group chat yesterday, Shell was hit with a historic L of its own. A Dutch court ordered the oil giant to cut emissions 45% from 2019 levels by 2030, more than double what it originally projected. 

What we learned yesterday: If oil companies refuse to make a green transition on their own, outside interests will make sure they do.

MEDIA

Amazon Bends and Snaps Up MGM

After weeks of rumors, Amazon finally laid its goldfinger on MGM in a deal worth $8.5 billion. It’s Amazon’s second-largest acquisition after Whole Foods and the first time a tech company has bought a major legacy media firm. 

Leo the Lion’s roar has a big echo

MGM’s iconic mascot reflects the movie studio’s blockbuster content catalog—featuring franchises such as Legally Blonde, James Bond, Rocky, and Creed—that could soon port over to Amazon Prime Video.

• Amazon will get a leg up at the Emmys too, and not just because MGM houses The Handmaid’s Tale, Fargo, and Vikings, but also because it’s a studio capable of churning out more prestige TV.

However...while quarantined viewers proved they’re willing to sign up for multiple streaming services (Disney+, Discovery+, and Paramount+ all reported impressive growth numbers) they’ll all soon compete with social calendars filled with more events than “4:30—Stare into the abyss.”

Zoom out: The streaming wars are still heating up, especially when it comes to strategic M&A (earlier this month, AT&T said it’ll merge WarnerMedia and Discovery). MGM could make Amazon Prime Video more than the streaming service you forgot you’re subscribed to.

SOCIAL MEDIA

No More Likes, Just Vibes

After years of talking about it, Facebook officially released its likes-hiding option on Facebook and Instagram. Users of both apps can choose to hide the number of likes and reactions for their own posts or others on their feeds.

Let’s focus on Insta. Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri said that the hiding likes option was first created to “depressurize the experience” on the platform. But after a bunch of testing, Instagram found that user wellbeing and app usage didn’t change when likes were removed.

Despite little evidence that removing likes would accomplish...anything, the company still decided to roll out the feature “as a matter of personal choice,” but it’s getting criticized by the e-commerce community it hopes to attract. The biggest reactions to the decision were from smaller business accounts and influencers who rely on engagement metrics to get paid. 

Looking ahead...44 US attorneys general recently told Mark Zuckerberg that the company’s Instagram for Kids project was a bad idea. Facebook’s push to create a healthier environment may be an attempt to change opponents’ minds.

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Beating Credit Card Interest Piques Our Interest

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Interest puns aside, this card is as good as it gets. It gives you 0% interest for 18 billing cycles, so you can save up to $1,863 dollars. You also won’t be charged a penalty APR for late payments or an annual fee. 

And there’s no reason to say no to the card that gives you a year and a half worth of relief from interest, especially if you've got debt weighing you down or a big purchase on the horizon.

A year and a half of no interest. No penalty APR. No annual fee. No way you’re not interested. 

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GRAB BAG

Key Performance Indicators

Stat: Ford said yesterday it expects 40% of its sales to come from electric vehicles by 2030. It’s got a long way to go: In the US, the company’s largest market, Ford’s EV sales have accounted for 1.2% of this year's total through April. Maybe spending $30 billion on EV development in five years will move the needle.

Quote: “The star of the overdraft show.”

That’s the nickname Sen. Elizabeth Warren called JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who she blasted yesterday at a hearing with execs from the biggest US banks. Warren accused JPMorgan of gouging customers who were struggling during the pandemic; Dimon denied the charge, responding, “I think your numbers are totally inaccurate.”  

Read: How the pandemic saved the fast food industry. (Experience)

MARKETS

Dow Cruises to 125th Birthday

125 years ago yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average first appeared in the Wall Street Journal. It consisted of 12 stocks that Mr. Pennybags would approve of, such as gas and electric companies. 

Since then, the Dow has expanded to 30 companies and has grown from about 40 points on its inaugural trading day to over 34,000 today. But in the era of meme stocks, is it time for the Dow to retire and move to Florida?

Here’s one thing aging the Dow: It’s weighted by share price rather than market capitalization, like the S&P 500. That means the performance of companies with higher share prices have outsized influence, even if others may be more valuable. 

• For example, United Healthcare (worth $390 billion) affects the Dow more than Apple ($2.1 trillion), because Apple has split its stock and United Healthcare’s individual shares cost more.

Some say this makes the index a good reflection of less-flashy “value stocks” favored by investors such as Warren Buffett. 

But Dowters say the index’s share-price weighting, plus its limited number of companies, makes it a poor representation of Corporate America.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Dick’s Q1 profit hit a record with all those youngsters heading back out to their ballfields.
• Eight people were killed when a Valley Transportation Authority employee opened fire at a San Jose, CA, rail yard. The gunman also died.
• BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said the asset manager is studying cryptocurrencies to find out whether they are more than “just a speculative trading tool.” 
• Jeff Bezos will officially step down as CEO of Amazon on July 5. A very hungover Andy Jassy will take his place.
• Laurence des Cars will become the Louvre’s first female president in its 228-year history.

BREW'S BETS

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Finally in theaters: Here’s a list of when all the movies that were delayed by the pandemic will hit the big screen. Horror and sci-fi fans, it’s your year. 

Work at a startup? Here’s a great thread on available tools at your disposal. 

Brew mini: It’s back for the second time this week! Give the puzzle a try. 

FROM THE CREW

Pick Our Founder’s Brain

It’s not every day you get to receive advice from a cofounder of the world’s finest, wittiest, best-looking, and most humble media company—OK, we’re talking about ourselves. Our own Alex Lieberman has a wildly informative (yet charmingly candid) podcast called Founder’s Journal, where you'll hear Alex navigate the ups and downs of daily life as a modern decision-maker.

Listen to his episode on networking post-COVID here.

GAMES

Three Headlines and a Lie

As the weather gets warmer, the news gets weirder. And this week’s Three Headlines and a Lie is absolutely bonkers. We’ll give you four headlines and you try to spot the one that’s too wild to be real...or maybe the most normal one is real? 

1. 'Unathletic' alligator with 'terrible arthritis' escapes Wisconsin zoo
2. Cheese photo leads to Liverpool drug dealer's downfall
3. Gaming retailer GameStop is building an NFT platform on Ethereum
4. Influencer’s hair falls out after taking shower in wine for ‘National Wine Day’

ANSWER

We made up the story about that poor influencer.