In July 2019, Graphic Packaging CEO Michael Doss was proposing a $600 million investment in a new machine to produce coated recycled board (CRB), a type of paper packaging used for consumer products (cups, cereal boxes, beverage boxes, etc.) that utilized recycled paper as an input. Graphic...

As of 12/31/21, Amazon held $22 billion of equity and warrants in related companies. In fact, it often requests a free grant of warrants when it enters into a new commercial agreement with a supplier. Over the past 20 years, Amazon has gotten warrants almost 20 publicly traded companies and more...

For many years, Bed Bath & Beyond (BBB) was one of the most successful specialty retailers in the United States—it’s growth and profit margins far exceeded both peer retailers in the home goods market as well as many “big box”/discount retailers. But in 2014, its stock price peaked,...

On March 10, 2021, Ralph Mupita, the new CEO of Africa’s largest telecommunications company, presented the group's 2020 annual results and unveiled a new strategy to "drive growth and unlock value." Despite MTN's leadership position in most of the 21 markets in which it operated, the company's...

As the covid pandemic spread in early 2020, global travel ground to a halt. For Airbnb, the San Francisco-based company providing accommodation rentals, the impact was both swift and severe as revenues plummeted by more than 70% year-over-year. Responding to the dramatic downturn was a challenge...

On April 8, 2019, Occidental’s Hollub made a private offer to buy Anadarko Petroleum Corporation for $72 in cash and stock. Anadarko's CEO Walker said he would consider the offer, yet three days later, on April 11, he signed a merger agreement with Chevron in a deal worth $65 per share in cash...

Emmanuel Faber became CEO of Danone SA, the French food and beverage company, in 2014. Right from the start, he ran the company with a dual commitment to both profit and purpose (i.e., ESG objectives or “sustainability”). In fact, in 2018, he said, “It’s time to make sustainable business...

On October 7, 2020, Bespoken Spirits publicly announced it had received $2.6 million of seed funding for its “sustainable maturation process,” a process that could produce award-winning whiskeys in just days rather than years using a novel technology and data science. The technology...

In May 2013, TransDigm, a company that manufactured a wide range of highly engineered aerospace parts for both military and civilian aircraft, announced it was buying Arkwin Industries for $286 million in cash (3 times Arkwin's sales of $91 million). Having acquired more than 40 companies in the...

Eaton Corporation, a diversified industrial conglomerate, had been changing its strategic focus and re-configuring its portfolio of businesses for the past 15 years. Through more than 70 acquisitions and 50 divestitures, Eaton had narrowed its strategic focus considerably and was now pursuing a...