Monday, January 10, 2022

John Legend, Prince Bin Salman in KKR News


Private equity underwriter KKR is in the news with two deals, one confirmed and one possible.

KKR & Co. Inc. and BMG have acquired the songwriting catalog of John Legend.

KKR approached the Public Investment Fund, which is chaired by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to gauge its interest in providing capital for its proposed acquisition of Telecom Italia SpA.

I'm sure John Legend does not want to be in league with the killer of journalist Jamal Khashoggi but that's the company you keep when you run with the greed and leverage boys.  

Destruction is as destruction does.  KKR's General David Petraeus knows.  He also knows the free pass highly connected people get for going along.

Update 3-4-22:  The Crown Prince of Thuggery said:

 "If that's the way we did things, Khashoggi would not even be among the top 1,000 people on the list. If you're going to go for another operation like that, for another person, it's got to be professional and it's got to be one of the top 1,000."

Reminds me of the rapist whose defense is "the woman was too ugly to attack."  Their arrogance is beyond belief.

Update 4-26-22:  KKR's buyout of BrightSpring harmed developmentally disabled persons in the group homes.  Greed, like feces, flows downhill.  

Managers who did not meet corporate targets were subjected to “focus calls” on which Rousseau, BrightSpring’s CEO; Barnes, the president of the group home division; or other executives would berate them.

Update 5-16-22:  Former golf great Greg Norman said in a response to the Crown Prince ordered killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a media day for his Saudi-backed LIV Golf’s inaugural event in London next month:

"Look, we’ve all made mistakes and you just want to learn from those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward."

Part of rectifying a mistake is accepting responsibility and taking accountability for one's action.  The Prince of Thuggery has done nothing in that regard.  If Greg Norman has an inside information about the murder he should inform authorities. 

Update 5-26-22:  Justin Timberlake is the latest artist to sell his music to the greed and leverage boys. 

Update 6-6-22:  The Shark went name calling golfers who chose not to affiliate with a Saudi backed golf tour.  Greg Norman called Jack Nicklaus a "hypocrite" and.Rory McIlory "brainwashed".

Greg Norman, the public face of the breakaway LIV Golf series (sponsored by Saudi Crown Prince MBS' Public Investment Fund), says the executives and agents who currently run golf “are conspiring against LIV to protect an antiquated system that prevents golfers from realizing their own power and worth amid a global movement of athlete empowerment.”

As for antiquated social systems in Saudi Arabia that don't involve the murder of a U.S. journalist:

Reports emerged that the women activists who pressed for the policy change had been arrested and imprisoned. As of this morning, 13 are reported to have been arrested; most are women. Apart from the driving issue, they have campaigned against so-called guardianship rules which require Saudi women to receive permission from a male relative before making many life decisions, like traveling.