Sustainable Finance Newsletter - Precedent for Musk's F-bomb

(In section of newsletter titled "Musk's crass phrase follows trends" please note language that readers might find offensive in paragraphs 4 and 11)

By Ross Kerber

Dec 6 (Reuters) - With Elon Musk there's always more to the story, I was reminded after writing about his use of a profanity last week.

Analysts I spoke with couldn't recall a similar case of a business executive cursing at their own customers but it turned out that - who else? - the leader of promoter Ultimate Fighting Championship rolled out the same phrase on a podcast last month.

I know it's part of a broader social shift to informality but we all will be sorry when bad language doesn't shock us anymore. (And what will the poor screenwriters do on that day?)

You will also find links to stories on the COP28 climate conference in Dubai and how new deals with labor haven't stopped GM from rewarding shareholders as well.

Please connect with me on LinkedIn where I welcome comments and feedback. If you have a news tip, potential content, or general thoughts feel free to email me at

This week's top stories

Fossil fuel phase-out among options on COP28 table

EU's electric dreams short-circuited by EV charging gridlock

Western start-ups seek to break China's grip on rare earths refining

Musk's crass phrase follows trends Elon Musk's use of a profanity last week at a conference surprised analysts who couldn't recall a similar case of a business leader publicly cursing at their customers. But the behavior of the Tesla CEO has precedent, in two ways. There has been a higher level of public profanity from business leaders, research shows. Also, Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White made the same comment just last month.

White appeared on the podcast of comedian Theo Von last month and used the same language as Musk when describing what he told a major sponsor who asked him to delete a post supporting former U.S. President Donald Trump. "You know what I said? Go Fuck Yourself," White said on the podcast. If White's language was Musk's inspiration it wouldn't be the first time the billionaire had engaged with the martial-arts kingmaker. Over the summer White reportedly was in talks with Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about a possible cage match, though it didn't happen. Representative to UFC's parent company, TKO Group, and for Tesla did not respond to questions. A representative for Musk's social media platform X did not immediately respond to questions. So far this year executives have used profanity on 179 different corporate conference calls, according to Alphasense, a New York-based financial research platform. That is about the same as last year's count of 180 times and up from 92 times in 2018.

Georgetown University linguistics professor Deborah Tannen said the rise in business-call profanity matches a broader trend toward more informality in public discourse.

The shift may not be all bad. Tannen also said, via email, that "Innumerable topics and contexts that in the not too distant past were never mentioned in public -- mental illness, eg -- are now discussed openly." Nick Mazing, Alphasense director of research noted some limits in the data. For one thing the count treats all uses of profanity the same: a call on which an executive throws out multiple naughty words would be counted the same as one where an errant NSFW phrase was an anomaly. A prolific CEO swear-er is Jim Hagedorn of Scotts Miracle-Gro, , who for instance on Nov. 1 told an analyst on a conference call that "Dude, you've been eating your fucking Wheaties," according to a spokesman. In an interview Hagedorn said he admires Musk for his creativity, and that he values his own reputation for straight talk. But, Hagedorn said, "It's a fine line between being seen as crass and unsophisticated, and being seen as honest and passionate." Hagedorn said he has sworn at major customers behind closed doors, but never in a hostile way. "Would I curse out my customer in public? Definitely not," Hagedorn said. He added he considers the leaders of major retailers who carry his products as friends. "I think maybe the difference with Musk and his advertisers is, he's not friends with them," Hagedorn said. One more thing: On Nov. 21 New York City's top investment officer, Comptroller Brad Lander, said Tesla's board should sanction Musk if he did not take steps such as removing his endorsement of an antisemitic comment on his social media platform X and apologizing for it. Musk did apologize at his appearance last week. But the endorsement remained online as of Tuesday and Lander said he has yet to hear back from a letter he sent Tesla's board. "Elon Musk’s behavior was not reflective of what we as shareholders expect in company leadership. I called for board action in my letter in addition to accountability from Mr. Musk. I have yet to hear back from them at all," Lander said in a statement provided by a representative.

Tesla and Musk did not respond to questions about Lander's remarks sent to the company. A representative for X did not immediately respond to questions.

Company News New labor deals will cost GM $9.3 billion, even as it spelled out $10 billion in share buybacks and a 33% dividend increase. This story puts some important context around the sometimes-competing interests of workers and investors. Colleague Tommy Wilkes had an important story last week about how four top banks quit a big initiative to scrub corporate climate targets, worried it could stop them from financing fossil fuels.

The looming shutdown of a lucrative First Quantum copper mine in Panama could hit the country's economic growth, after the country's Supreme Court ruled the mine's contract was unconstitutional.

On my radar

A deal between Canada and Google will keep news stories in search results and require the tech giant to pay out $74 million annually to news publishers. Let's see if it prompts changes by Meta, the other goliath that has sucked up gobs of advertising dollars from publishers, and has already blocked news sharing on Facebook and Instagram.

Top fund firms are giving their investors proxy-voting choices, which could blunt criticism over their ESG stances. On Tuesday Vanguard said it would let investors in $100 billion worth of funds including its Vanguard Russell 1000 Index Fund choose among four voting policy options in early 2024.

(Reporting by Ross Kerber. Additional reporting by Tim McLaughlin; Editing by David Gregorio)