6 Most Important Things in Business Today

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Mar 13, 3:39PM EDT · Published Apr 20, 5:07AM EDT

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Troubled Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT) has another new CEO. According to The Wall Street Journal:

Mattel Inc. Chief Executive Margo Georgiadis is leaving the toy maker after about a year in the job, a surprising shake-up at a company searching for a strategy that can end a four-year sales slump.

Former studio executive Ynon Kreiz will succeed Ms. Georgiadis, Mattel said Thursday. When Mr. Kreiz takes over on April 26, he will be the fourth person to hold the Mattel CEO title in as many years.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) will start an inexpensive streaming service. According to The Wall Street Journal, its CEO made comments about it during the trial that will determine if the telecom company can merge with Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX):

AT&T Inc. plans to launch a “skinny bundle” of television channels without sports that will cost $15 a month, one of the lowest prices available for a nationwide streaming live TV plan.

The service, called AT&T Watch, was announced Thursday by Chief Executive Randall Stephenson, who used his time on the witness stand in a high-profile antitrust case to pitch the new plan.

AT&T Wireless subscribers would get the service free, Mr. Stephenson said. He didn’t specify which channels it would include or when it would be available. The CEO said he hopes to launch the service in the next few weeks.

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Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) will hire a large number of tech workers. According to the company:

The Home Depot is hiring approximately 1,000 new technology professionals in 2018 at its primary technology centers in Atlanta, Austin and Dallas to support initiatives related to its $11.1 billion three-year strategic investment plan.

In December 2017, the company announced investments related to its store and online shopping experience, supply chain and delivery capabilities, and associate and workforce management systems. Many of these initiatives require advanced software engineering, system engineering, UX design and product management.

The CEO of Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) was fined due to his role in a bank investigation. According to Bloomberg:

Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley survived a year-long regulatory probe into his attempts to unmask a whistle-blower with a fine and his job.

While the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority will impose a financial penalty on Staley for failing to behave “with due skill, care and diligence” in the scandal, they stopped short of the more serious charge that “he acted with a lack of integrity or that he lacks fitness and propriety to continue to perform his role as group chief executive officer,” the bank said in a statement on Friday.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is making a full court press to win a major government contract. According to CNBC:

As the Defense Department continues its march toward procuring a secure cloud software, an acquisition potentially worth up to $10 billion, Amazon Web Services has boosted its marketing presence at the doorstep of the Pentagon.

A series of AWS advertisements promoting an upcoming summit have recently appeared on the walls and floors of the two-leveled Pentagon metro station. The ads have taken the place of those featuring defense companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) will be fined $1 billion by the U.S. government. According to CNNMoney:

Two federal regulators are close to fining Wells Fargo $1 billion for forcing customers into car insurance and charging mortgage borrowers unfair fees.

The hefty penalty will be announced as early as Friday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, according to a person familiar with the enforcement action.

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.