Boeing’s CEO pulls the golden parachute

David Calhoun is out. So why won’t he leave? [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a fresh pair of eyes for Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Boeing]( needs to act fast. - [This tax credit]( shouldn’t last. - [Vladimir Putin]( forgot the past. - [American wine]( is geographically vast. Boeing Has Been Here Before The last time Boeing went shopping for a new CEO, it was December 2019. Dennis Muilenburg — who started out as an intern and climbed through the ranks — [stepped down]( after a deadly pair of plane crashes ruined his reputation. By January 2020, the aerospace company found a new chief executive. But instead of selecting a fresh pair of eyes, the board went with a seasoned director who had been with Boeing since 2009. Of course I’m talking about David Calhoun, who just today [announced]( he will step down at the end of the year, after parts of Boeing’s planes — [wheels](, [door panels](, etc. — blew off like little dandelion seeds mid-flight. When Calhoun began as Boeing’s CEO four years ago, he was asked how he would fix the 737 Max crisis as a “long-time insider.” Instead of answering the question, he bristled, [telling]( reporters, “I watched the [same movie]( you did.” That was the first red flag for Brooke Sutherland, who at the time [wrote](, “perhaps it wasn’t spelled out clearly, but part of the reason he received those six-figure checks each full year of his tenure was because he was meant to be a director of said movie, not a bystander.” His whole I’m the new guy line [got real old](, real fast. Now he’s [going down](, with nothing but a generous “[golden parachute](” to save him. When the whole [hole disaster]( happened earlier this year, Calhoun did manage to [say the right thing]( to his staff: “We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company.” What was missing, Thomas Black [argues](, was any acknowledgment that he might have been part of the problem. “Boeing cannot afford to drag out the succession until the end of the year,” he writes. Let’s just hope they get an actual new face this time around. Bonus Boeing Reading: Quality control is most heavily scrutinized in the aerospace, for good reason. Did [workforce upheaval]( during the pandemic start a broader industrial erosion? — Thomas Black Tax Breaks and Heartbreak I can’t be the only one who spent an embarrassing amount of time this weekend learning this TikTok-famous [line dance](. The song of choice — [Austin]( by Dasha — is about a young couple who had a plan to move out of town and head West to live by the beach. But come moving day, the girl wakes up and the guy is a complete no-show. Naturally, she has some theories as to why he ditched her in the chorus: Did your boots stop workin’? Did your truck break down? (Truck break down) Did you burn through money? Did your ex find out? (Ex find out) Where there’s a will, then there’s a way And I’m damn sure you lost it Didn’t even say goodbye Just wish I knew what caused it But what if he pulled out of their plans, not because his truck broke down or his ex found out, but because of the mortgage interest deduction? It’s a bit clunky, lyrically speaking, but it is one of the big reasons why wannabe homeowners are running for the hills. “Just as high agent [commissions]( inflate US home prices, so does this tax credit that only about 10% of households take advantage of anyway,” [writes]( Kathryn Anne Edwards, who advocates for a Congressional elimination of the deduction, which will cost the Treasury nearly [$600 billion]( between 2019-2028. That money could be repurposed to help renters and first-time buyers, but instead it goes to people who *checks notes* shouldn’t need any help at all: Why are households making more than $200K the big beneficiaries here? Kathryn explains that the only people who can claim the deduction are those who [itemize]( expenses, and they are predominantly in higher income tax brackets. So “let’s stop calling it the mortgage interest deduction and start calling what it is: a debt subsidy for the wealthy,” she says. On the bright side, at least we got a line dance out of it! Read the [whole thing]( (for free). Putin’s Shrinking [Memory Ring]( Imagine how jaded you’d have to be to actively ignore someone — even if they’re Public Enemy No. 1! — who tells you that there’s about to be a terrorist attack in the capital of your country. At least 137 people [lost their lives]( after Vladimir Putin blindly [dismissed]( a [US warning]( about potential terror activity in Moscow. “There was a time not so long ago when Putin understood that Washington considered Islamist radicalism a shared threat, taken so seriously that it was ring-fenced from other disputes,” Marc Champion [writes]( (free read). “Yet so shredded has trust become between Moscow and Washington since Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, if not since his 2014 annexation of Crimea, that he fell victim to paranoia. Had he been able to think rationally, Russia’s president would have known this was a game the US wouldn’t play, because it could only lose.” Instead, Putin vaguely [labeled]( the American intelligence about an imminent Islamist assault as “blackmail.” I know hindsight is 20/20, but yikes. Bonus Putin Reading: Europe’s divisions [still run deep](, despite Putin’s techno-industrial war machine. — Lionel Laurent Telltale Charts Monday is a tad early in the week to uncork that bottle of cab sauv, so why not peruse the [American Viticultural Area Map]( instead? Justin Fox [says]( it’s a delightful way to unwind after a long day. “Some of these wine regions have surprisingly long histories,” he notes. And the map shows how California is losing market share as other states — New York, Washington, Oregon, Virginia and Texas — plant more vineyards. Justin calls it “a sensible rebalancing of where wine is made in the face of climate change, high California land and labor costs, and shifts in how wine is sold.” Here’s a fact for you: White women and people of color make up [65% of entry-level employees](, but just 43% of senior management roles. “That’s not because White men are so disproportionately qualified or uniquely suited to leadership,” Sarah Green Carmichael [writes](. It’s often because employers have failed to create a level playing field for women and racial minorities. Without even touching controversial DEI programs, Sarah says employers can implement policies that will benefit all employees, like parental leave, child care support and flexible working hours. These benefits are popular with White men, but they will make a huge difference to women, people of color and people with disabilities. Further Reading Banks are trying to[make their risks]( disappear. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Big Oil found [a new way]( to hurt the climate. — Mark Gongloff [Lululemon]( needs to focus less on leggings. — Leticia Miranda Reddit’s [moon launch]( won’t spark an IPO boom. — Paul Davies [Crane kitchens]( are the hot new thing in construction. — Matthew Brooker Elon Musk’s courtship of [Indian officialdom]( may have paid off. — Mihir Sharma Raising the [retirement age]( isn’t going to help anyone. — Matthew Yglesias ICYMI Trump is [suddenly rich]( now. Meta uses unorthodox [hiring tactics](. Cocoa is [more expensive]( than copper. How [#WhereIsKate]( swallowed the web. The [mifepristone]( debate starts tomorrow. Kickers [Apple juice]( is in everything ... … and so is [Jesse Plemons](. [Figure skating]( to Succession? Iconic. [Simultaneous girlfriends]( are peak productivity (and douchebaggery). Nobody wants to get [choked by a snake]( on live TV. (h/t Andrea Felsted) Notes: Please send apple juice and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](