FEATURED ARTICLE
BACARDI JOINS PUERTO RICO RECOVERY EFFORT

By April Hall

As Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico, the Bacardi family made plans to help the island, working with its private company’s board and executives to line up the necessary resources for a humanitarian mission.

Five days after the storm hit, sixth-generation family member Ignacio del Valle flew on a company plane along with an emergency response team consisting of the head of operations for the Americas and other specialists to assess damage in San Juan and surrounding communities. Bacardi Limited, the fourth-largest spirits company in the world, has a rum plant in Catano, a San Juan suburb.

ANALYSIS

WILL 'ORACLE OF OMAHA' BE PILOT FLYING J’S SAVIOR?

By Barbara Spector

In his 2014 annual letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Warren Buffett wrote that his company is a natural partner for families seeking to exit their businesses. And indeed, many struggling family business owners see the "Oracle of Omaha" as a savior, or at least someone who can help their companies recover from financial or reputational troubles.

The news that Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy a 38.6% stake in Pilot Travel Centers LLC and would acquire a majority holding by 2023 was reported in the media as a positive development.

In the case of Pilot, whose recent history has been checkered, that is likely true.

GENDER DIVERSITY

"FEARLESS GIRL" A HYPOCRISY?

By Eve Tahmincioglu

It was a gender-equity phenomenon: A statue of a young girl staring down the powerful Wall Street bull in the heart of Manhattan’s financial district.

State Street Global Advisors erected the bronze statue earlier this year with a message to get more women directors in the nation’s boardrooms. The statue took on a life of its own, becoming a global symbol of female empowerment. Women, including little girls and grandmothers, lined up to take a photo with the “Fearless Girl.”

Now, it turns out State Street’s women employees may need to erect the statue in their own workplaces.

State Street Corp. agreed to pay the government $5 million for alleged gender pay discrimination dating back to 2010, according to a review by the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.