Someone once said, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.” Hey, we’re talking real money here. These people have it, and maybe somewhere in these magazines is a clue on how you can get it, too.
Apparently, Forbes was so enthused about putting billionaires on its cover that this month’s special issue on billionaires has five covers, each with a billionaire on it. The top cover goes to WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum, but tear him off and you get Sheryl Sandberg, looking slightly annoyed that she got covered up. Tear her off and you find German retailer Michael Otto, a man of class and taste whose attributes might not serve him well in a brewing battle with Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Bringing up the rear are hard-partying Aussie tycoon James Packer and Norway’s Alexander Vik, with the latter smiling big on cover No. 5, despite the fact his path to fortune is littered with people he’s screwed. This is the guy whom Forbes calls “the most interesting man in the world.” Interesting.
Fortune also does the multiple cover thing, this time with its list of the world’s “Most Admired Companies.” Silicon Valley investor Ben Horowitz, not a company, is on the actual cover (and there’s a good profile of him inside, complete with his favorite hip-hop tracks). But right behind him is FedEx, touted as the No. 8 most-admired company under the Fortune masthead. A few pages later, Home Depot is announced as No. 40, which seems to alert us to a pattern: “Hey, you may think our service sucks from personal experience, but look! We’re on the cover of Fortune! Fortune admires us! Ha! So there.”
Apple, of course, is No. 1, though all you hear on Wall Street these days is whether the iPad-maker has lost its mojo. The biggest surprise may be that
Amazon is No. 2, given that rankings are done by peers, and Amazon is greedily eating the lunch of said peers. Do they need to give them an award for it, too?
Target is in the bull’s-eye of this week’s Bloomberg Businessweek, which digs up yet more dirt on the retailer’s data-hacking disaster. Just how asleep at the wheel was Target’s tech team throughout this whole sordid story? Let’s put it this way: Not only did Target ignore repeated warnings from its own paid consultants as pirates started downloading its customers’ data, but it did nothing to confirm the problem and eradicate the malware until more than two weeks later — and three days after it got a warning from federal investigators. Federal investigators! The malware that brought Target to its knees was “absolutely unsophisticated and uninteresting,” according to a McAfee exec. Guess Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel won’t be running for governor of Minnesota anytime soon.
The Economist depicts “crony capitalists” on its cover, likening them to well-fed crocodiles, wolves and hippopotamuses in suits. Inside, we learn that in America, among these animals are Comcast’s execs and their lobbyists in Washington. Ever polite, the magazine doesn’t mention Comcast CEO Brian Roberts’s name. But it does quote President Barack Obama saying last year at the home of Comcast lobbyist David Cohen, “I have been here so much, the only thing I haven’t done in this house is have seder dinner.” Comcast’s proposed $45 billion purchase of Time Warner Cable “would mean the union of two companies that are already reviled for their poor customer service and high prices,” according to the magazine. “Greater size will fix neither problem.” Now, would it be possible to get this message into the halls of Congress, or is it too clogged with lobbyists?
Time magazine’s “The Ideas Issue” hits on some very well-worn talking points, including articles on how our society is too politically correct, and needs more women in the workplace. Former Bank of America wanna-be CEO Sallie Krawcheck penned the gender piece asking, “Did I take my lone stances because I am a woman? Maybe.” Seemed in 2010 when she was climbing the BofA ladder, it was mostly about ambition, not gender. There’s also a pretty persuasive viewpoint from Bard College President Leon Botstein on why the SAT test should be scrapped.
New Yorker’s “The Style Issue” offers some substance with a lead feature on actress Scarlett Johansson. She is trying to retain her sexy image as the “Avengers” movie she stars in as the Black Widow is about to be released at the same time she is pregnant. A nine-page feature on perhaps the best video artist ever — Pyan Trecartin — somehow, though, feels out of place in the print medium. James Surowiecki’s take on why Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stance in the Crimea will backfire — because it will prompt the Europeans to seek alternative energy sources — makes sense.