June 2013

Susan Molinari, Google’s chief Washington lobbyist, has vowed never to let Washington surprise Google.

A brassy, well-connected New York Republican who served seven years in the House, Molinari is paid handsomely to broaden the tech giant’s support beyond Silicon Valley Democrats and to lavish money and attention on selected Republicans. (Google employees gave 90 percent of their political donations to President Obama last year.) If she needs motivation, it occasionally comes from Microsoft, where the former Clinton operative Mark Penn oversaw an ad campaign portraying Google as a nefarious invader of privacy, which helped to keep the pressure on regulators to hold Google under the microscope. To fight off the now constant scrutiny of Google as a behemoth monopoly that reaches far into people’s personal lives, Molinari has aggressively courted lawmakers and federal regulators as she has managed a Google effort that spent a record $18.2 million on lobbying in 2012. The company that once had no use for Washington is now the eighth-biggest spender on lobbying in the capital, ahead of not only Microsoft but also mainstays like Lockheed Martin.

[Commentary] On July 11, 1934, Eugene O. Sykes became the first chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He held the post until March 8, 1935 when Anning S. Prall rose to be chair. Since then, each succeeding FCC chair has been a man – that is, until May 20, 2013, when Mignon Clyburn became the Acting Chairwoman of the commission. Chairwoman Clyburn becomes the third FCC chair of the Obama presidency after Acting Chairman Michael Copps and Julius Genachowski. The “glass ceiling” is a concept that betrays America’s most cherished principles. It is the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to positions of leadership, regardless of their qualifications or achievements. Sadly, it took nearly 79 years for a woman to become chair of the FCC and this first chairwoman has "Acting" in front of her title. Nevertheless, the move suggests progress and we are excited to track Chairwoman Clyburn’s record.

The biggest of the proxy advisory firms, Institutional Shareholder Services, lent its support to Sprint Nextel‘s proposed sale to SoftBank of Japan, amid ongoing criticism of the deal by investors and a rival bid by Dish Network.

In its report, I.S.S. found that SoftBank’s offer fairly valued Sprint and provided much-needed capital that would help the wireless provider expand its network and turn around its long-struggling fortunes. “Given the strategic merits of the SoftBank transaction, the sales and negotiation process overseen by the board, the strength of the valuation relative to precedent transactions, and the market reaction, a vote for the transaction is warranted,” I.S.S. wrote. The recommendation by I.S.S. may influence many of the institutional investors that own shares in Sprint ahead of a scheduled meeting on June 12.