from Stories I’d like to see:
Romney, Sully, Steve Jobs and The Boss
By Steven Brill
This is the first entry in a new regular column, "Stories I'd Like To See." It's the notebook of someone who still thinks like an editor but is over the thrill of managing a reporting staff – or the hassle of dealing with “great” story ideas that crash and burn when someone actually goes out and reports them and learns anew that even the best editors can’t hit much better than the best ballplayers (meaning three or four out of ten story ideas will actually work).
1. Mitt the philanthropist:
If the excellent New York Times story last month about Mitt Romney’s Mormon Church involvement is correct, he is required to tithe 10 percent of his income to the Church or church activities each year. This would amount to an enormous amount of money when he was running Bain Capital during its highly-successful years. It might even make him the most charitable person ever to run for President (or be President). Is this true? Or did he tithe 10 percent of his “taxable income,” which would have been a lot less, given all the deductions and favorable tax-rate-treatment available to a high-income private-equity earner?
2. Mitt the taxpayer:
On the other hand, this raises the issue of what percentage of his gross earnings Romney paid in taxes during his best years, or even last year, when presumably all of his earnings were capital gains and might also have been subject to all kinds of investment tax credit and other deductions. I know he hasn’t released his tax returns (yet), but can’t someone get access to Bain’s investor reports and an estimate of his gross income, and then extrapolate that into what he actually might have paid, given favorable tax treatment of capital gains and of carried interest payouts to private equity fund managers? Or, at least, can’t some pesky reporter simply pick Bain’s best two or three years when he was running it and ask Romney what percent of federal income tax he paid on his gross income?
3. Yankees’ empty seats:
Tech wrap: New Nook Color on the way?
Barnes & Noble sent out invites on Monday to a Nook-related event coming up on November 7. Most tech watchers expect the company to use the occasion to unveil a new version of its Android-powered Nook Color tablet e-reader, which could sport a better screen and upgraded hardware.
As CNet points out, the most anticipated question will be how much Barnes & Noble decides to charge for the new device. “With the Kindle Fire on sale at $199 (it ships November 15), there’s some pressure on B&N to come close to matching that price, though Amazon is allegedly losing money on each Fire it sells (our sources suggest the Fire currently costs around $220 to build). With that being the case, Barnes & Noble is more likely to come out with a faster, more powerful Nook Color that costs $249, though we wouldn’t be surprised to see it at $299,” writes David Carnoy.
Netflix has added a slew of new TV show episodes to its streaming video catalogue through an expanded licensing deal with ABC Television Group, a division of Disney. In addition to extending licensing for popular ABC shows such as “Lost” and “Grey’s Anatomy” that it already offers, Netflix added ABC’s “Switched at Birth,” “Alias” and episodes from past season of Disney Channel’s animated series “Kick Buttowski” to its streaming selection. Amazon.com also unveiled a content agreement with Disney on Monday that will let Amazon Prime subscribers stream shows from ABC studios, Disney Channel, ABC Family and Marvel.
A single hacker based in China launched a coordinated cyber attack earlier this year that compromised computer systems belonging to at least 48 chemical and defense companies, according to a new report from security firm Symantec. Computers belonging to these companies were infected with malicious software known as “PoisonIvy,” which was used to steal information such as design documents, formulas and details on manufacturing processes, Symantec told Reuters on Monday. The companies were not identified, but Symantec said the bulk of the infected machines were found in the U.S., Bangladesh and the UK and included some chemical companies that develop advanced materials used in military vehicles.
It’s no secret that Steve Jobs used to enjoy taking the occasional potshot at Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates. But Walter Isaacson’s new biography of the Apple co-founder, which was released shortly after he died earlier this month, reveals just how harsh Jobs could be in his criticism of Gates. In addition to calling Gates “unimaginative”, “weirdly flawed as a human being” and “fundamentally odd”, Isaacson quotes Jobs as saying “He just shamelessly ripped off other people’s ideas.” When ABC’s Christiane Amanpour brought up the comments in an interview last week, Gates dismissed the criticisms, saying “none of that bothers me at all.” He went on to praise Jobs in the interview. At one point, he even went so far as to claim he helped Jobs invent the Mac.
Bill Gates late to Twitter party
Bill Gates may have been one of the prime movers in the computer age, but now he’s just another middle-aged late adopter.
Only this week, the Microsoft co-founder got around to joining Twitter and launching his own website.
His first Tweet (“Hello World”) set the ball rolling on Tuesday, and already he has almost 250,000 followers. Several of his tweets have been about raising money for Haiti earthquake relief.
His website — called The Gates Notes — handles a broad range of topics, much of it related to Gates’ primary role as head of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is working to eradicate killer diseases worldwide and improve standards of education in the United States.
Sections include “What I’m thinking about”, “What I’m learning” and “My travels”. Gates reveals his hunger for learning through online courses and DVD lecture series.
Gates’ review of the year from the point of view of his foundation is due to be published on Monday.
Sun Valley: More Who’s Who in Pictures
Nearly every powerful media and technology executive you can imagine has swung through the idyllic and affluent ski resort town of Sun Valley this week. Here are a few more snapshots from Reuters photographer Rick Wilking…
Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Inc, arrives at the Sun Valley Inn
Harvey Weinstein, of the Weinstein Co arrives at the Sun Valley Inn
Les Moonves, CEO of CBS Corp arrives
Google and Microsoft – lunch of the frenemies at Sun Valley
Google is moving to steal Microsoft’s lunch with its plan to release a PC operating system that competes with Windows. But when Eric Schmidt and Bill Gates crossed paths in Sun Valley on Thursday, lunchtime was all pleasantries.
As Gates was walking out from one of the morning conference panels for lunch, reporters naturally surrounded him to ask for his thoughts about the new Chrome OS announced by Google this week.
Before Gates had a chance to answer though, Schmidt appeared from behind and joked “it would be better if you don’t make that comment,” provoking laughter all around.
The pair shook hands and walked off together in conversation towards the garden where lunch was being served. Since reporters weren’t allowed in, the rest of the conversation is anyone’s guess.
(Photo: Eric Schmidt and Bill Gates talk outside the Sun Valley Inn on July 9, 2009. REUTERS/Rick Wilking)
ask yourself this have you ever ran across a web page created by google the would not render in your browser of choice? I know I haven’t but the same cannot be said for microsoft.
that is why google will win they know that forcing customers to pay to get to THEIR data is not a way to keep customers. they know the lock-in business model is dead.
microsoft just doesn’t get that concept and never will.
Sun Valley: The stars align
Allen & Co’s 27th Sun Valley media and technology conference starts on July 7 and ends on July 12. In the meantime, expect media writers to breathlessly report, blog, tweet, photograph and record the event. Why the fuss? There are literally hundreds of people coming who are known to do nothing else than run the universe when it comes to TV shows, movies, telecoms, the Internet and all sorts of other electronic communications. We have lists of all the people who bankroll them as well, along with a list of other interesting people you will find there.
Here, meanwhile, are the big men and women of media and technology who justify the travel budgets that increasingly hard-up news organizations have to put out for your favorite folks in the press corps to hide behind the hedges and hope for a handout that will break news, move markets and excite our editors. Keep in mind: this list is not a guarantee that these people are showing up; it’s just an invitation list (arranged alphabetically by company). We’ll update it as we learn more. (Our boldface names indicate some general viewpoint that they’re the stars of the stars.)
- James McCann, CEO, 1-800-flowers.com.
- Bobby Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard Inc. Also Brian Kelly, co-chairman.
- Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon.com Inc.
- Tim Armstrong, chairman and CEO, AOL
- Michael Ovitz, AMSEF LLC, former uber-talent agent at Creative Artists Agency and former Walt Disney Co executive.
- Gerhard Zeiler, CEO, RTL Group, Bertelsmann AG.
- Bill and Melinda Gates, of the foundation of the same name. Bill, of course, co-founded Microsoft Corp.
- Mark Vadon, executive chairman, Blue Nile Inc.
- James Dolan, president, CEO, Cablevision Systems Corp.
- Leslie Moonves, president, CEO, CBS Corp. Also Neil Ashe, president, CBS Interactive. Also Quincy Smith, CEO, CBS Interactive. (And a former Allen & Co man.)
- Charlie Rose, interviewer and anchor on the Charlie Rose Show
- Anthony Bloom, Cineworld plc
- Richard Parsons, chairman, Citigroup Inc. Former CEO, Time Warner Inc.
- Lowry Mays, chairman, Clear Channel Communications Inc.
- Ralph Roberts, founder, chairman emeritus, Comcast Corp. Also Stephen Burke, president and COO, Comcast Cable.
- Patrick Condo, president, CEO, Convera Corp.
- Jimmy Hayes, CEO, Cox Enterprises Inc.
- Richard Lovett, president, Creative Artists Agency Inc. Also Bryan Lourd, managing partner.
- Michael Dell, chairman and CEO, Dell Inc.
- Richard Rosenblatt, chairman and CEO, Demand Media. He used to work at MySpace’s parent company before News Corp bought it.
- Chase Carey, former DirecTV CEO and Rupert Murdoch’s new No. 2 man at News Corp.
- John Hendricks, founder and chairman, Discovery Communications. Also president and CEO David Zaslav.
- Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO, DreamWorks Animation SKG.
- John Donahoe, president and CEO, eBay Inc.
- Dara Khosrowshahi, president and CEO, Expedia Inc.
- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. (We’ve heard conflicting reports about whether he’ll show. Either way, he’s still on our list.)
- Tom Freston, principal, Firefly3 LLC. Former Viacom executive.
- Martin Varsavsky, CEO, FON
- Jeff Immelt, chairman and CEO, General Electric Co.
- Jeff Zucker, CEO, NBC Universal. (GE)
- Ronald Meyer, president and COO, Universal Studios. (GE)
- Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO, Google. Also co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
- Juan Luis Cebrian, CEO, Grupo Prisa. Also Ignacio Polanco, chairman.
- Emilio Azcarraga, chairman and president, Grupo Televisa. Also Alfonso de Angoitia, executive vp.
- Christopher Schroeder, CEO, HealthCentral. Also former CEO of Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive.
- Cathleen Black, president, Hearst Magazines.
- R. Todd Bradley, executive vp, personal systems group, Hewlett-Packard Co. Also CEO Mark Hurd.
- Barry Diller, chairman, CEO, IAC/InterActiveCorp. Also chairman, Expedia Inc. Also Victor Kaufman, vice chairman, IAC/InterActiveCorp.
- Lachlan Murdoch, executive chairman, Illyria Pty Ltd. Son of News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch.
- Craig Barrett, former CEO, chairman, Intel Corp. Also Sean Maloney, executive vp, chief sales and marketing officer.
- Jeffrey Berg, chairman and CEO, International Creative Management. Also president Christopher Silbermann.
- Michael Volpi, formerly of Cisco Systems Inc and Joost.
- Eric Eisner, L+E Pictures. Son of former Walt Disney Co. CEO Michael Eisner.
- Kevin Reilly, CEO, Lamar Advertising Co.
- Michael Fries, president and CEO, Liberty Global Inc.
- John Malone, chairman, Liberty Media Corp. Also Greg Maffei, president and CEO.
- Reid Hoffman, chairman, president of products, LinkedIn Corp.
- Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO, Loopt Inc.
- Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer, advanced strategies and policy, Microsoft Corp. Also Robbie Bach, president of the entertainment and devices division, and Henry Vigil, senior vp, strategy and partnership.
- Rupert Murdoch, CEO, News Corp. Also with him is his second son, James Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corp’s Europe and Asia operations. Also Jonathan Miller, News Corp’s chairman and CEO for its digital media group. Former president and COO Peter Chernin, whose last day was June 30, is coming along too, in tow with CFO David DeVoe and new MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta.
- Gina Bianchini, CEO, Ning Inc.
- Jorma Ollila, chairman, Nokia Corp.
- Greg Wyler, founder, O3B Networks Ltd.
- Jeffrey Jordan, president and CEO, OpenTable Inc.
- Jeffery Boyd, president and CEO, priceline.com Inc.
- Maurice Levy, chairman and CEO, Publicis Groupe.
- Paul Jacobs, chairman and CEO, Qualcomm Inc.
- Robert Johnson, founder and chairman, the RLJ Companies.
- Jay Y. Lee, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
- Kenneth Lowe, chairman, president and CEO. Scripps Networks Interactive.
- Mel Karmazin, CEO, Sirius XM Radio Inc.
- Max Levchin, CEO, Slide Inc.
- Sir Howard Stringer, chairman and CEO, Sony Corp. Also Kazuo Hirai, president of networked products and services group; Robert Wiesenthal, executive vp and CFO, Sony Corporation of America; Michael Lynton, chairman and CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment; Hiroshi Yoshioka, executive deputy president, president of consumer products and devices group; and Nicole Seligman, top lawyer.
- Nick Grouf, CEO, Spot Runner Inc.
- Thomas Glocer, CEO, Thomson Reuters Corp, along with Niall FitzGerald, deputy chairman.
- Michael Eisner, the Tornante Company LLC. Former Walt Disney Co CEO.
- Lars Buttler, CEO, Trion World Network Inc.
- Evan Williams, co-founder and chairman, Twitter Inc.
- David Levin, CEO, United Business Media plc.
- James Berkus, chairman, United Talent Agency.
- Brad Grey, chairman and CEO, Paramount Pictures Corp (Viacom).
- Sumner Redstone, chairman, Viacom. Also Philippe Dauman, president and CEO.
- Jean-Bernard Levy, CEO, Vivendi.
- Robert Iger, president and CEO, Walt Disney Co. Also Thomas Staggs, CFO.
- Edgar Bronfman Jr, chairman and CEO, Warner Music Group.
- Donald Graham, chairman, CEO, The Washington Post Co.
- Casey Wasserman, chairman and CEO, Wasserman Media Group LLC.
- Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman, The Weinstein Co.
- Shelby Bonnie, CEO, Whiskey Media LLC.
- Jim Wiatt, William Morris Endeavor.
- Terry Semel, chairman and CEO, Windsor Media. Former Yahoo CEO.
- Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP.
- Anne Mulcahy, chairman, Xerox Corp.
- Jerry Yang, chief Yahoo.
- Mark Pincus, founder, CEO, Zynga Inc.
Nick Grouf can teach on how to screw over your employees and your investors while walking away with several million dollars. maybe he can do a secondary seminar about “pump and dump” schemes. Nick is a fraud
Sun Valley: Reuters returns to Idaho
Nearly every powerful media and technology executive you can think of will be camping out in the idyllic and affluent ski resort town of Sun Valley this week. They have aimed their Gulfstreams squarely at Idaho so they can show up at the 27th edition of Allen & Co’s media and technology conference, which investment banker Herb Allen holds every summer here.
That means nearly every media reporter you can think of will be hovering among the hedgerows and parking lots (and in the bar, naturally), waiting to get a few precious seconds with super-wattage movie executives from DreamWorks’s Jeffrey Katzenberg to Paramount’s Brad Grey, technology heavyweights such as Michael Dell and Bill Gates, media kingpins Philippe Dauman and Rupert Murdoch and fresh-faced startup darlings like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter’s Evan Williams and Ning’s Gina Bianchini.
Reuters, of course, will be among the press crew at the scene. Reporters Yinka Adegoke and Alexei Oreskovic will show up, as will I, and photographer Rick Wilking will be shooting the pictures that at Sun Valley often tell a more eloquent story than any text dispatch can.
We and a bunch of other journalists will be working around the clock (literally) to get these powerful, and often reclusive bigs to tell you what the next stunning media and technology deals will be. We’ll also be asking them how they are keeping their companies in business amid big changes in the ways people inhale their news and entertainment, as well as how they are dealing with the fallout of an economic crisis last year that nearly capsized the financial system.
Also, keep an eye out for the glamorous or the unusual. Sun Valley guests typically show up with their families, and the whole affair is supposed to be casual. That means there’s always the possibility that Murdoch could lose more than his wedding ring. And celebrities, such as investor Vivi Nevo’s wife, actress Zhang Ziyi, are often part of the program.
Check back with us at MediaFile, and remember to read Reuters’s dispatches from Sun Valley. Allen & Co might keep the press outside, but we’ll be working hard to bring you the inside story.
(Photo: Designer Diane von Furstenberg and her husband, IAC/InterActiveCorp CEO Barry Diller at last year’s conference. They are the kind of media star-power that cruises around Sun Valley, Idaho, for a few days every summer. Reuters/Rick Wilking)
Microsoft, Gates master the art of product placement
There is no better way to learn about the art of product placement than to learn from the masters. Today, that means Microsoft Corp and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, both of which were the subject of articles about how they’re delivering their messages like little pills wrapped in the sugar coating of the entertainment you consume.
Can Microsoft market its way out of the search basement? Probably not, but it’s going to try, entrusting [ad] agency JWT to craft a campaign for its new search engine, alternately dubbed Kumo or Project Kiev or Live Search, depending on who’s talking about it. … The service is being tested and is expected to make its debut in the summer. … Industry executives expect JWT, part of WPP, to unveil an estimated $80 million to $100 million push for the new search engine in June, with online, TV, print and radio executions. Microsoft spent $361 million on U.S. measured media in 2008, the bulk of it devoted to brand advertising and smaller chunks to other Microsoft brands such as Xbox and MSN, according to TNS Media Intelligence data.
The huge [Gates] foundation, brimming with billions of dollars from Mr. Gates and Warren Buffett, is well known for its myriad projects around the world to promote health and education. It is less well known as a behind-the-scenes influencer of public attitudes toward these issues by helping to shape story lines and insert messages into popular entertainment like the television shows “ER,” “Law & Order: SVU” and “Private Practice.” The foundation’s messages on H.I.V. prevention, surgical safety and the spread of infectious diseases have found their way into these shows.
Now the Gates Foundation is set to expand its involvement and spend more money on influencing popular culture through a deal with Viacom, the parent company of MTV and its sister networks VH1, Nickelodeon and BET. It could be called “message placement”: the social or philanthropic corollary to product placement deals in which marketers pay to feature products in shows and movies. Instead of selling Coca-Cola or G.M. cars, they promote education and healthy living.
The Times story uses expert comments from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which has been doing this issue placement for years, and gave advice to the Gates Foundation about how to do this. One of the Kaiser officials told the Times that this “is not about planting a message.”
Oh Microsoft, how the times change!
1975
Microsoft (then spelled “Micro Soft”) is founded by William “Bill” Gates, a 20-year-old Harvard dropout, and Paul Allen, his 22-year-old school chum. They begin selling its first product, a BASIC programming language interpreter.
Microsoft signs an agreement to build the operating system that became known as MS-DOS for IBM’s new personal computer, which was launched in 1981. Microsoft was allowed to license the operating system to others, spawning an industry of “IBM-compatible” machines dependent on Microsoft software.
1983
February: Paul Allen, ill with Hodgkin’s disease, resigns from active management of the company but remains on the board of directors.
I’ll add to the Vista comment above.
The Microsoft people who had a hand in it deserve to go.
What were these folks thinking?
Heads should roll for such a flop.
Ballmer upstaged at first-ever CES keynote?
After watching Bill Gates deliver Microsoft’s keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show for 12 years, CEO Steve Ballmer finally got his moment in the sun on Wednesday.
We were rooting for you Steve, but next time, tell your friends not to steal your thunder.
First, it was Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg leaking the news that the U.S. phone company has picked Microsoft as its default mobile search provider. It’s a big win for Microsoft, which has been lagging behind Google and Yahoo on the Web, but Ballmer didn’t get to be the first to tell the world. Seidenberg stole the spotlight, announcing the deal at a Citi investor conference earlier on Wednesday. We were hoping Microsoft would take back the limelight by giving us more details when it was Ballmer’s turn at CES, but alas, all the CEO said was, “I’m also thrilled to announce a new long term partnership with Verizon to offer our live services on all Verizon phones.”
Besides the Verizon deal, Ballmer also announced at CES the beta test launch of Windows 7, Halo Wars, a Windows Live deal with Dell, and a bunch of other stuff. But most of it, while good news, didn’t seem to wow the crowds at the Palazzo Ballroom in the Venetian hotel.
The funniest moment of the keynote, in our opinion, was when Ballmer joked about the advice Bill Gates gave him for his first-ever keynote. Ballmer flashed a message on the screen from Gates that said “There are always two conventions going on during CES – make sure you go to the right one.” The other conference is the adult entertainment expo, of course (if you didn’t know).
He then followed with supposed messages from President-elect Barack Obama, disgraced Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and others, including this faux gem from Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang:
“Why do you keep ignoring my Facebook requests?”
Really dull. Where have all the stars gone. Bill’s gone and now even Jobs isnt there at Macworld
If Romney’s faith strictly compels him to tithe, even as President, does this religious-demand of material (money)constitute a violation of church and state? This issue seems different from, let’s say, an Orthodox Jewish non-work on Sabbath law, because there are always Jewish faith emergency loopholes. Non-work is non-material. A tithe is matrial and is also different from a charitable donation.