5 Most Important Things in Business Today

December 18, 2018 by Douglas A. McIntyre

The former CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) CEO will not get severance due to sexual harassment claims. According to Reuters:

CBS Corp said on Monday it has fired Leslie Moonves for cause and has denied a $120 million severance package as it girds for a potential legal battle with its former chief executive who has been accused of sexual harassment and assault that allegedly took place before and after he joined the company

The decision to deprive Moonves of his severance follows a board of directors review of the findings of an investigation into Moonves’ behavior and the CBS culture conducted by two law firms, Debevoise & Plimpton and Covington & Burling, hired by CBS.

Germany’s economy is slowing. According to Reuters:

The German economy is cooling but there is no recession in sight, an economist at Ifo said on Tuesday after the institute’s monthly survey showed the business climate in Europe’s largest economy deteriorating.

Klaus Wohlrabe said uncertainty had increased again and Britain’s upcoming departure from the European Union was at the top of the agenda.


The T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) takeover of Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) came closer to closing. According to The Wall Street Journal:

T-Mobile US Inc. won approval from U.S. national-security officials for its planned takeover of Sprint Corp. S -2.51% , bringing the two rivals a step closer to closing their roughly $26 billion combination.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., or Cfius, told the companies Monday that it had cleared the union of the No. 3 and No. 4 carriers by subscribers after several months of negotiations with company representatives, the companies said.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) faces new charges. According to The New York Times:

Since becoming a symbol of Wall Street greed during the financial crisis, Goldman Sachs has tried to recast its image as an investment bank that cares as much about ethics as it does its bottom line.

Now, that makeover is being undone by the bank’s work for an obscure investment fund in Malaysia, which has entangled it in civil and criminal investigations around the world. Goldman recently received subpoenas from New York regulators, held talks with federal prosecutors and is likely to incur billions of dollars in penalties. It is one of the most serious crises in the bank’s 149-year history.

The gender pay gap in the world is massive. According to Bloomberg:

The good news: The global gender gap has improved, slightly. The reality: Differences in economic opportunity, including pay between men and women, are so vast it’ll take 202 years to fully bridge them, according to the World Economic Forum.

The group looks at several measures of equality between men and women in this year’s Global Gender Gap Report, released Tuesday.

Overall gender disparity across politics, work, health and education improved by less than 0.1 percent, meaning it’ll take 108 years to reach parity. The economic opportunity gap — based on participation, pay and advancement in the workforce — remains the area that’ll take the longest time to close.

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