Dick Fuld, Disgraced Former CEO Of Lehman Brothers, Makes Bizarre Comeback

Dick Fuld, part villain and part unforgivably very confused bystander to the financial crisis in the eyes of most -- and a victim of the financial crisis to himself -- made a bizarre comeback at a conference in New York on Thursday.

In his first public appearance (other than sworn congressional testimony) since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Fuld blamed regulators, borrowers and rumors for the end of the 158-year-old, $47 billion firm he led. It was a “perfect storm” that sank Lehman, not his own leadership or decisions, Fuld said, while touting Lehman’s “success” to the audience. He also claimed that every one of the 27,000 employees who once worked for Lehman had been a risk manager, because they owned stock in the firm.

Lehman’s September 2008 collapse was the first of many bank failures and market seizures that fall. It sparked the financial crisis that ended in a $416 billion bank bailout and left the country mired in the Great Recession.

Fuld's comments were initially carried live on the financial news network CNBC, but the feed was pulled by conference organizers part way through his remarks. Technically, Fuld was at the conference to deliver a keynote address titled, "How Emerging Growth Companies Can Succeed in Today's Capital Markets: Perspectives from My Journey." His comments, however, were a well-rehearsed if less-than-convincing defense of his own actions leading up to the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

He denied that Lehman was a failed company in September 2008 and intimated that he and the firm were victims of a conspiracy centered around former competitors in regulatory positions with a vendetta against him. Fuld, nicknamed the “Gorilla” during his career for his overly aggressive style, seemed temperamentally unchanged, telling one conference questioner, “Why don’t you bite me?”

Months prior to Lehman’s fall, Fuld had declared that “the worst of the impact of the financial markets is behind us” and pushed subordinates to take more risk, sidelining or firing those who disagreed with him.

Fuld is now working at his own firm, which is focused on the kind of small deals he would have scoffed at as CEO of a massive investment bank. The venue itself was an indication of his fall: an otherwise barely noteworthy conference focused on selling shares in tiny public companies.

How California's Ethical Nail Salons Can Teach New York To Clean Up Its Act

Guests enjoy Smirnoff Ice and a Nail Salon at the Ladies With Game Tailgate at The Diageo Liquid Cellar on January 29, 2014 in New York City. (Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images)

When Anthony Pham read The New York Times’ expose about the exploitation of manicurists in New York, the California nail salon owner was at once horrified and comforted by how clear-cut the fix could be.

“To me, it’s so obvious,” Pham, owner of Spa Elysee in Burlingame, where workers start out earning $11 an hour, told The Huffington Post. “I can say with absolute conviction that the state of New York needs to tighten up and make their licensing process much more strict than it is.”

After a 13-month investigation, which involved interviewing nail salon workers and owners across ethnicities and languages, The Times unveiled a laundry list of offenses, which included wage theft, physical abuse and the health consequences of being exposed to toxic products. While the expose shocked readers into boycotting nail salons, and moved Mayor Bill de Blasio into declaring a Nail Salon Day of Action on Thursday, advocates who have been addressing injustices like these for more than a decade have warned against taking drastic, and potentially harmful, steps.

They say it will require coaxing workers out of the shadows, demanding more oversight among politicians and developing a trusting collaborative of nail salons, similar to a successful program in California.

San Mateo supervisor Don Horshey present Spa Elysee with the Healthy Nail Salon award.

“It’s really important for workers who are affected to be centered in the conversation,” Miriam Yeung, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, a group that focuses on Asian Americans’ reproductive, economic health and education rights, told The Huffington Post. “They have insight into what’s most wrong and what they most need, and what will be most effective policy making.”

This very concept of taking into consideration nail salon workers’ pressing needs has helped clean up the industry in California.

"This Isn't About Boycotting Salons"

After Asian Health Services, a community health center and other advocacy groups took inventory of the health “epidemic” nail salon workers faced, they developed the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative in 2005.

A conglomerate of manicurists, nonprofits, justice and environmental organizations, the collaborative aimed to develop a program that would reward salon owners for prioritizing workers' health and safety. Nail technicians are believed to have miscarriages, develop cancer and other conditions on the job due to exposure to toxins.

The scrappy organization, which has only four full-time staff members, is also involved in community organizing and advocacy work on the policy level.

“This isn’t about boycotting nail salons,” Julia Liou, co-founder of the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative and planning and development director at Asian Health Services, told HuffPost. “It’s about how we can come together and help this industry become healthier and safer.”

One of the collaborative’s most effective measures was developing a healthy nail salon recognition program. In 2009, the group devised a three-part certification campaign that would earn participating nail salons a visible placard to place on the window, so that customers could feel confident knowing that the workers’ health isn’t being jeopardized.

Throwing Out The Toxicity

The program requires salons to dump any nail polishes containing the “Toxic Trio,” which is formaldehyde, toluene, and dibutyl phthalate. This move was particularly critical considering that repeated inhalation of such ingredients can be harmful, yet companies aren’t required to list the contents of their products on the bottle.

California's chemical regulators randomly sampled dozens of professional grade nail polishes in 2012 that claimed to be free of a "toxic trio" of dangerous substances and found that many still contained the chemicals in high levels. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

“Even though you’re in that profession you can have huge blind spots,” said Pham, a Vietnamese-American who grew up in the salon he eventually took over from his mother. “We were just oblivious. Why would companies produce a nail polish that’s dangerous? If someone is selling something to human beings, why would they include harmful ingredients?”

The program also requires workers to wear protective gloves at all times and masks when they’re working with acrylics. Salons also must install ventilation systems, which vacuum out fine dust particles in the air.

The air filtration systems cost about $800, but Pham was able to secure one for free since he was one of the first salons to get involved in the program. The county of San Mateo footed the bill and Liou hopes to get additional government funding to provide the system for any salon that wants to participate.

A Certification Program To Ensure Ethical Practices

The certification program, which is currently available in San Mateo, San Francisco, Alameda County, City of Santa Monica and Santa Clara County, was initially met with some skepticism.

“People were very scared,” Liou said. “It’s going to be really expensive for us,” was a common concern she heard over and over.

But what Liou uncovered over time was that most nail salon owners wanted to run ethically responsible businesses. But as is typically the case in New York City, the owners –- who are often immigrants just like many of their workers -- struggle with English and just didn’t have the information readily accessible to take the necessary steps.

To ameliorate any concerns, the collaborative delivers a training packet that’s translated into a number of languages and holds a one-day seminar for every employee in the salon, so that everyone involved can fully grasp the protocol involved.

Considering that his ventilation system was covered, Pham said the process wasn’t cost prohibitive.

He estimates having spent about $300 on discarding old, toxic polishes and forks over about $40 a month for protective gloves and masks.

To date, 55 salons have been certified. That figure is expected to climb to 75 by fall, Liou said.

And while the recognition program doesn’t outright address wage issues, Pham noted that any salons that are eager to protect their workers’ health, likely aren’t interested in undercutting their employees.

But getting paid paltry wages is also so much less of an overall concern in California, where nail technicians are mandated to undergo a rigorous 300-hour licensing process.

A nail technician at Spa Elysee gives a customer a pedicure.

Nail salons also undergo strict inspections two to three times a year. Those that are found guilty of violating of standard procedures are fined heavily and it’s “very, very easy” for a salon to have its license revoked, Pham added.

Worker Training

While manicurists in New York are technically required to be licensed, The Times found that many simply work without them, and the licenses are easily bought, sold or forged.

Taking on inexperienced workers was one of the oft-repeated justifications for not paying workers a living wage.

The Times learned that workers often first pay about $100 to get in the door and then work for free until the salon owner deems them worthy enough to earn an hourly wage.

Since manicurists are considered “tipped workers” in New York City, owners are permitted to compensate a little less than the $8.75 minimum wage. But many earn far less. One woman who was profiled got under $3 an hour.

The average wage for a nail technician in California is $9.88, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,

But Pham says that due to the extensive licensing process, pay is even more competitive in the industry.

Employees just starting out at Pham’s salon earn $100 a day, and put in about nine hours. They keep all of their tips and earn a $10 bonus if a tech completes $300 in services.

He said a “lower end” salary for a nail technician is a daily rate of $80 to $85.

Pham said about 20 to 30 customers come through Spa Elysee’s door every day, where clients can also get waxing and facial services, but the salon doesn’t actually charge that much more than those in New York City.

The average manicure in New York costs $10.50, according to The Times.

Pham said he charges $15. A manicure-pedicure combination runs $30.

New York Already Ups Its Game

While New York appears to have taken a page out of California’s healthy nail book, advocates say politicians needs to devote additional resources to make effective systemic changes.

“We need politicians to commit to staying around for long haul,” Yeung said, “or else what we’re looking at is tissue paper when you cut yourself. It’s not going to work.”

Spa Elysee hosts healthy nail salon event.

The day after The Times piece ran, Gov. Andrew Cuomo implemented a number of emergency measures, which included requiring salons to post signs informing workers of their rights. They notify employees, for example, that it’s illegal to work for no pay and that they’re required to wear gloves to protect themselves.

Hundreds of volunteers hit the streets on Thursday to dole out fliers further explaining nail salon workers’ rights. And while the agencies involved in the task force said they won’t ask workers about their legal status, advocates say part of the rehabilitative process needs to involve engaging with every worker, undocumented or not, in a meaningful way.

Volunteers distribute flyers in multiple languages about health concerns, labor practices, regulations and wages at nail salons, to commuters outside a subway station in New York on May 21, 2015.

On a federal level, advocates want to see toxic ingredients regulated for safety.

The Patron's Power

In terms of what concerned customers do, advocates say they need to recognize the invaluable power of their voices.

They say clients need to approach owners and ask about their tipping policies, breaks for workers and request the salon only carry non-toxic products, Yeung said. If customers notice something suspicious, they should contact a trafficking hotline and they should contact their legislators asking that their cities replicated California’s healthy nail salon program.

“You’ve taken care of my beauty needs and I care about you,” Yeung said of how customers should view their relationship with their nail technician. “It’s almost a sisterhood. We have to support each other.”

This story has been updated to clarify the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative's healthy nail salon program.

Like Us On Facebook Follow Us On Twitter

Women Need To Listen To This Advice Given To Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer

You may think the advice that one super-successful corporate titan gives to another super-successful almost-CEO is something you can safely ignore.

Yet the last thing that Google founder Sergey Brin told Marissa Mayer right before she ascended to the throne of chief executive of Yahoo is something we all need to hear. Especially women.

In an interview with Patricia Sellers at Fortune, Mayer dished about the guidance Brin gave her in the minutes before Yahoo announced her appointment back in 2012. She said that Brin gave her all sorts of minor advice that she later wound up acting on -- like changing the Yahoo logo, one of the first things she did as CEO.

But as she was headed out the door, Brin called her back, Mayer told Sellers. "'Marissa, wait! Don’t forget to be bold,'" he said.

That’s it. That’s the advice women need to hear. Because many of us have confidence issues. I reported earlier Wednesday on a new study that offered up more evidence of the problem. The study revealed that female college students are less confident about their job and salary prospects than men.

It is the latest brick in a hard wall of evidence that shows women hold themselves back at work by not aiming higher. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg talked about the issue in her highly publicized book “Lean In,” and the Atlantic published a long piece last year called the Confidence Gap that detailed a lot of depressing examples of women’s propensity to be very much not bold.

In one anecdote, authors Katty Kay and Claire Shipman tell the story of their friend who supervises two direct reports: Rebecca and Robert. Rebecca plugs away at her job, diligently doing good work. When she needs to talk to the boss, she makes an appointment. She doesn’t speak up in client meetings. When she gets tough feedback, sometimes she cries. Meanwhile, Robert is at the boss’s office door constantly with new ideas. A lot of them are bad, but he doesn’t seem to care.

Kay and Shipman wrote:

Our friend had come to rely on and value Rebecca, but she had a feeling it was Robert’s star that would rise. It was only a matter of time before one of his many ideas would strike the right note, and he’d be off and running—probably, our friend was beginning to fear, while Rebecca was left behind, enjoying the respect of her colleagues but not a higher salary, more responsibilities, or a more important title.

Of course, as the authors note, women are often in a double-bind when it comes to boldness. Women who are bossy and decisive at work are often labeled as "bitches." But things are changing, thanks to people like Sandberg and Mayer herself.

We can also thank some great new female comics. In a recent episode of “Inside Amy Schumer” called “I’m Sorry,” there’s a hilarious takedown of the female propensity to undersell ourselves and apologize for no reason. It involves a fake panel of women geniuses who step over themselves with self-deprecating nonsense.

You should check it out. Meanwhile, I’m so sorry for taking up your time with this.

Jack Ma Says Women Executives Are Alibaba's 'Special Sauce'

HANGZHOU, China -- While Silicon Valley grapples with a major gender gap in its workforce, Jack Ma, the founder of Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba, said Wednesday that women are the "secret sauce" behind his company’s success.

The proclamation came during Alibaba’s first-ever Global Conference on Women and Entrepreneurship. The two-day event in Hangzhou, China, included speeches from women as varied as Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, actress and entrepreneur Jessica Alba and Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post’s founder and editor-in-chief.

Since starting Alibaba out of his apartment in 1999, both Ma and his company have grown to be giants in China's tech landscape. The business now stands as the country's biggest online marketplace, and has garnered Ma a net worth of over $24 billion. Alibaba is so prominent that over 60 percent of packages delivered in China are from its orders, according to a 2014 New York Times article.

The company was using the event this week to promote women's entrepreneurship, as well as its own relatively strong record on gender equality. According to Alibaba, over 40 percent of all its employees are women. Women make up nearly 35 percent of the company's high-level managers and one-third of its founders.

While those numbers fall short of total gender parity, they still stand out when compared with most Silicon Valley firms.

Several of Alibaba's high-level female employees spoke at the event, including Zhang Wei, Alibaba Group senior vice president, and Lucy Peng, Alibaba Group chief people officer and CEO of a financial services subsidiary. Zhang acted as host throughout the day on Wednesday, while Peng gave a speech on how she evolved at the company and learned to overrule male colleagues.

Ma spoke at the end of the event, and fielded questions from both fans and reporters. He said women approach communication and problem-solving in a way that's particularly important for a service and retail company like Alibaba.

“Men think about themselves more; women think about others more,” Ma said. “Women think about taking care of their parents, their children.”

That essentialist language might raise some eyebrows in feminist circles, as would distinctions that Ma occasionally laid out between men who operate according to logic and women who act more on intuition. But Ma frequently invoked ancient Chinese philosophy, particularly Taoist concepts of yin and yang, in describing his vision of the strengths that women have brought to Alibaba.

"I feel proud that more than 34 percent of senior management are women. They really make this company’s yin and yang balanced," Ma said. "Women balance the logic and the instinct. I would say this is the 'secret sauce' of the company."

Asked about the gender gap in Silicon Valley companies, Ma said that while he doesn't know the numbers, he believes that the most successful companies likely make gender parity a priority.

At least one 2014 report by Fenwick and West appears to bear out Ma’s prediction. The report shows that while Silicon Valley lags far behind in gender equality, the top 15 tech firms do significantly better than the top 100 when it comes to including women in the highest leadership posts.

Big Banks Plead Guilty To Market Manipulation, Will Pay $5.8 Billion

The age of multibillion-dollar bank fines with no admission of wrongdoing is over. The Justice Department announced Wednesday morning that five banks pleaded guilty to market manipulation, while also paying billions of dollars in fines.

Barclays, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan and the Royal Bank of Scotland admitted to illegally distorting foreign exchange markets. The banks formed what they called "The Cartel" and aimed to set a key currency marker, known as "the fix," at mutually beneficial values.

The fix is set every day at 4 p.m. London time and is used in the more than $5 trillion currency market to determine the price of trades and the value of large institutional holdings. Traders at the banks used instant messaging chat rooms to discuss where to set the fix.

In addition to admitting guilt, the banks will also pay fines. Barclays will pay $650 million, Citigroup $925, million J.P. Morgan $550 million and RBS $395 million. Barclays will pay another $1.3 billion to New York State, federal and U.K. regulators.

The Justice Department said it was charging the banks' parent companies because the wrongdoing was pervasive, and that the banks' punishment was "fitting considering the long-running and egregious nature of their anticompetitive conduct." To put the fines in context, in 2014, Barclay's net income was $3.5 billion, Citigroup's was $7.3 billion, J.P. Morgan's was $21.8 billion and RBS' was $3.9 billion.

A fifth bank, UBS, pleaded guilty to manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate, which is called Libor. Libor is the most important international interest rate benchmark. UBS will pay $545 million in fines to the Justice Department and Federal Reserve. The value of more than $300 trillion in debt is tied to Libor.

The five banks will pay a further $1.6 billion in fines to the Federal Reserve.

This story has been updated to include more information from the Justice Department and the 2014 income of the banks mentioned.

Here's What A Creative Neighborhood Looks Like

Innovation and creativity are the basic engines of economic development in cities, regions and nations. But what makes some places more innovative than others? How do certain neighborhoods come to specialize in different types of creativity?

Read the whole story at Citylab

Apple CEO Tim Cook Urges GWU Graduates To Develop Moral Compass

Apple CEO Tim Cook urged graduating George Washington University students to follow their values and find a job that helps them do good in a commencement speech delivered Sunday.

Cook talked of justice and injustice in a speech that paid homage to Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter, delivered to a crowd on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., VentureBeat reported. The university expected about 25,000 people to attend the commencement exercises, according to the outlet.

The CEO mentioned the civil rights leader three times in his 20-minute speech, and said that King, along with Kennedy, had been one of his childhood heroes.

Cook, who grew up in Alabama, shared a story about his first visit to the nation's capital in 1977, at the age of 16. On the trip, Cook met with then-President Carter right after meeting Alabama's governor, George Wallace, who had opposed desegregation in the '60s. (Wallace is perhaps best remembered for his 1963 inaugural address that called for "segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever.")

“Meeting my governor was not an honor for me,” Cook told the graduates. “Shaking his hand felt like a betrayal of my own beliefs. It felt wrong, like I was selling a piece of my soul.”

It was very different from meeting America's then-president, Cook said.

“Carter was kind and compassionate. He held the most powerful job in the world, and had not sacrificed any of his humanity,” he said. “It was clear to me that one was right and one was wrong."

Cook ended with a call for graduates to live their values and change the world -- and said that working at Apple had helped him do just that:

We believe that a company that has values and acts on them can really change the world. And an individual can too. That can be you. That must be you. Graduates, your values matter. They are your North Star. Otherwise it’s just a job -- and life is too short for that. ... You don’t have to choose between doing good and doing well. It’s a false choice, today more than ever.

Your challenge is to find work that pays the rent, puts food on the table, and lets you do what is right and good and just.

Words to aspire to.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated incorrectly that Cook spoke about John F. Kennedy. He spoke about Robert F. Kennedy.