Welcome back to Strategic Bites. A lot of you don’t like this name either and it’s become somewhat of a running joke that Ahmed doesn’t know how to name stuff properly. So we’re gonna change it one more time. Ahmed + Peter will have help to change this name.

Note: Ahmed started a cool little project with one of the readers over the weekend. Click here to check it out. Loaded with sign-ups already, so if you’re in the NC area, drop a line!

Here’s the run-down for this week:

Bob Iger Signs with Disney

Okay, remember when we cited an article that Bob Iger had no plans to stay past 2024? Well, that’s fucking wrong. Not the article, not us, just…plans changed and minds changed..

• Disney has extended Bob Iger’s contract through the end of 2026.

• It’s a fitting move, given the ‘turn-around’ of Disney’s stock is going to take longer with the WGA Strike and all.

The hot-take that will destroy your group chat:

Here’s the problem: Whenever there’s a Bob Iger article out there, it comes with a free Bob Chapek dishonorable mention. It’s always written as if in 2 years, the company was unquestionably destroyed by incompetence or something. It makes you think, that maybe Iger is the only one who can make this entire thing ‘go’, and that anyone who’s gonna fill his shoes is going to tank this company. The glaring problem is streaming, and the immediate and long term solution in shareholders’ eyes is to make this thing profitable.

The one big difference between Disney and “pure” streaming companies:

Streaming companies have shareholders that have been convinced to sacrifice profits for growth. Unless Iger slips the Cruciatus curse to the top 20 shareholders, that business model won’t be on board for a company like Disney.

BTW, Iger talked about the writer’s strike. It felt pretty tone-deaf to be honest. A rare strike-out for him.

BlackRock names Big Oil to the Board

BlackRock put the CEO of Saudi Aramco on the board

• BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager with $9.4 trillion assets under management, appointed Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco, to its board of directors despite pledging to invest in climate-friendly companies.

• Saudi Aramco, like other fossil fuel companies, faces pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

• The company (ARAMCO) has announced ambitions to achieve net-zero emissions from wholly-owned assets by 2050 and established a $1.5 billion sustainable technology investment fund.

Put aside your personal feelings and think: 

Net positive for both BlackRock and the Kingdom. In BlackRock, Saudi has a partner in ‘de-carbonizing’ its economy, and for BlackRock, it’s a foot in the door to one of the most heavily capitalized regions in the world.

Whatever your feelings about the Kingdom (and we certainly have many), the level of urgency with which the country is moving to ‘de-carbonize’ is unprecedented, and probably appropriate. 

Weird though, because BlackRock has promised to deploy capital + push companies to decarbonize, and Nasser has openly stated to increase investment in fossil fuels. Oh well, another political friendship rooted in hypocrisy.

Ahmed’s personal view:

Whoever is selling ESG investing strategy is essentially selling bullshit. I can’t believe we’ve bought into this notion that the burden of climate change should be delegated to…fucking venture capital?

This effort should belong to governments. Large scale initiatives focused on de-carbonizing a population’s entire output and rolling back emissions with a force so huge that it makes Oppenheimer look like an indie movie.

Again, none of this is investment advice.

What AI made this week

Have a great week!

Ahmed and Peter