Breaking news from Wall Street: It’s good to be the boss

The $40 million bonus is alive and well. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, the baby daddy of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. On Sundays, we look at the major themes of the week past and how they will define the week ahead. Sign up for the daily newsletter [here](. [Free Money]( Well, how was your bonus season? Is 2024 going to be the year for another [pickled shark](, another [submarine car](, another [personal bouncer]( or another [copy of the Constitution](? Don’t tell me you didn’t get one! Well, the folks at Barclays feel your pain, because a bunch of them [got stiffed](, too — and just a year after average bonuses across Wall Street [fell by a quarter](, to a measly $175K. Alright, it’s all too easy to take Wolf of Wall Street-style potshots at rich people who probably work very long and very hard and didn’t major in art history.[1](#footnote-1) But sometimes you gotta point out the disconnects, like at Goldman Sachs, where CEO David Solomon’s personal earnings rose 24% to $31 million in a year when the bank’s net profit fell 24%. Marc Rubinstein [explains](: “The board’s compensation committee, perhaps feeling defensive, highlighted seven factors in support of their decision, including Solomon’s ‘decisive leadership in recognizing the need to clarify and simplify the firm’s forward strategy.’” Well, a bottom line cratering 24% is clear and simple, certainly. It’s not just banking CEOs racking up the remuneration. Consider “the world’s most frugal auto executive,” Carlos Tavares of Stellantis, who pocketed just south of $40 million. “A compensation package more than 500 times larger than the average Stellantis worker and far above European corporate norms is [destined to provoke]( trade unions and politicians,” [writes]( Chris Bryant. “For context, the leaders of General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. earned $29 million and $21 million, respectively, in 2022.” But here’s the twist: He’s worth every euro. “There’s no question that Tavares has delivered an exceptional performance,” writes Chris. “Stellantis is returning €7.7 billion to investors via dividends and buybacks, while employees are set to receive almost €2 billion in variable pay and profit share awards.” Take that, Barclays bros. There’s a bonus season tradition almost as hallowed as griping about the size of your check, and that’s a prophecy from the CEO with permanent residence at the top of our minds. (No, not the one with the submarine car, he’s coming later.) I mean the one who [really has it in for baby daddies](. Warren Buffett’s annual letter to his sister [Bertie]( dropped a week ago, and Beth Kowitt [condensed]( it into some gems: There’s a lot of money to be made in doing nothing; big rewards don’t always have to come with big risks; when you know your successor, publicly name the person; it pays to bet on the US. But the best is swiped from Hugh McCulloch, the first Comptroller of the US: “Never deal with a rascal under the expectation that you can prevent him from cheating you.” Source: Reddit Which brings us to the world’s richest rascal, who is suing a fellow tech CEO and getting himself some rare Bloomberg Opinion love. “Call it an epic troll by Elon Musk if you want, but the billionaire’s [lawsuit against OpenAI]( puts a refreshing spotlight on the endless humanitarian posturing by AI businesses,” Parmy Olson [writes](. Musk is suing Sam Altman and the company they jointly launched for breaking their founding agreement about building powerful AI systems “for the benefit of humanity” and instead becoming more or less a subsidiary of Microsoft (and thus Buffett’s best CEO buddy, Bill Gates). But there’s a catch. “One problem with this claim is that the contract doesn’t quite exist,” Matt Levine [writes](. “Musk’s lawsuit says that OpenAI has breached ‘the Founding Agreement’ of OpenAI, capitalized like that, as though he, Altman and Brockman sat down and signed a piece of paper with ‘Founding Agreement’ at the top, setting out how OpenAI would operate. But they didn’t.” “Even so, Musk’s lawsuit points to an exasperating phenomenon among the world’s leading AI companies of starting life with promises to harness the transformative potential of artificial intelligence for the public good, only to end up falling under the sway of tech giants,” writes Parmy. “You could argue this is a rite of passage for startups. They set out to make the world a better place, then go public or get acquired and water down those ideals. But the stakes are higher with artificial intelligence systems that are being woven into all facets of life.” So don’t panic, folks, he’s on our side. Bonus [Clean Money]( Reading: - The Board of Directors [Is in Charge]( — Matt Levine - The [Howard Schultz Era]( at Starbucks Is Officially Over — Beth Kowitt - Citigroup’s New Banking Chief [Must Relish]( a Challenge —Paul J. Davies [What’s the World Got in Store](? - March 5: Super Tuesday - Biden’s Middle East Policy [Is Better]( Than It Looks — Andreas Kluth - The [Big Winner]( in Michigan’s Democratic Primary? Uncommitted — Patricia Lopez - March 7: State of the Union - Mitch McConnell Knows [He Has No Place]( in Trump's Party — Nia-Malika Henderson - Shutdown Politics [Only Enables]( Bad Economics — Karl W. Smith - March 8: US jobs report - The Fed Wasn’t Going to [Cut Rates]( Soon, Anyway. — John Authers [Cheeseburger (to Go)]( Being a CEO isn’t all fun and games and brined [elasmobranchii](. Sometimes you have to [take a pay cut]( or moonlight [as a theater usher]( or [go pantless]( on YouTube — and if you’re AMC Entertainment’s Adam Aron, you do all three, because you are awesome! But sometimes, egad, you just might have to admit you made a teeny little error in judgment (something lowly newsletter writers never have to stoop to, since we can just blame our editor). Anyway, here’s what happened at Wendy’s: “In an [earnings call]( earlier this month, Chief Executive Officer Kirk Tanner said the company would invest $20 million in digital menu boards that would allow its restaurants to change prices according to demand,” [writes]( Bobby Ghosh. For Bobby, surge pricing for fast food feels like a Rubicon is being crossed, because it isn’t a luxury item. “We can argue all day about the unfairness of the lack of healthy options in low-income communities, but it doesn't change the fact that burger chains target [food insecure communities](, and it has become a cheap staple to feed families,” Bobby writes. “As one [Reddit commenter]( put it, changing the prices throughout the day ‘is just more predation on the poor.’” When did a captain of industry ever apologize for that? Actually, Tanner sorta did on Tuesday. His PR minions (after a very weak attempt to blame the press for having “misconstrued” his comments) backtracked and said, “we have no plans to do that and would not raise prices when our customers are visiting us most.” Sure, this was all about loyal customers, and not the devastating [backlash]( across social media. “Just imagine waiting in a queue at your local Wendy’s, only to find, upon reaching the counter, that your [Dave’s Double]( will cost you more than it did the person just ahead of you,” Bobby adds. “Had Wendy’s not clarified its stance, the only surge I’d expect is one of resentment.” Notes: Please send many Frosty and feedback to Tobin Harshaw at tharshaw@bloomberg.net. [1] But I minored in American Studies so, yeah, I knew I was in for the big payday down the line. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. 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