‘93/’94 Year-End Review and Outlook : Tracking the Changes: The Ins and Outs for ’94 : Update: How the fickle favor of finance has shifted, gadget-wise and personality-wise.
Now, we know you read the newspaper every day, but last year went by so rapidly and so much has happened in the world of high finance that it’s tough to make sense of all the changes.
To get a good, heads-up start on the new year, you’ve got to know what’s what--what’s in and what’s out. So we’ll tell you.
To begin with, we want to say that not all these changes were our ideas. For instance, the venerable Sears catalogue is out--out of print, out of business--not because we want it that way. We remember it fondly as the Wish Book of childhood.
Along the lines of wishful thinking, there’s Michael Milken. He’s out the millions of bucks he paid in penance, he’s out of securities work, he’s out of prison--even out of the halfway house. So why the heck doesn’t he stay out of sight? This guy was out all over last year, teaching and testifying and doing good deeds.
Ditto Alan Dershowitz.
On the social front, there are certain phenomena that, like it or not, splash over into the business world. The late-night TV wars are one, because they affect how vulnerable the networks are to takeovers, how much you pay for ads--and how late your employees stay up at night.
Rest easy. Conan O’Brien is out. (We’ll be generous and say no more.) David Letterman is out at NBC and in at CBS. Despite what the Bar Assn. says, Jay Leno’s lawyer jokes are in. But it’s Ted Koppel and Nightline that are the most in. Class is always in.
Speaking of the media, they are the in thing, especially those that know where to catch the information superhighway. (Anyone who could explain that term in 25 words or less would be granted lifetime “in” status.) Multimedia, interactive media, 500-channel media--any new kind of medium is in, as long as it’s not violent. Violence in toys and television programs is out. And will you macho types puleeeze stop buying your kids toy guns? They are out, out, out!
(Real guns are out too. Or at least for five days, but we’ll leave the Brady law to political in-and-out list makers.)
Truth is in (imagine that!); fraud is out--psychiatric hospitalization fraud, dental insurance fraud, workers’ compensation fraud and scandal explosions fraud. However, in the case of the latter, very, very long and humble apologies are in.
Speaking of NBC News, Michael Gartner is out as chief. Donald W. Ohlmeyer Jr. is in.
There are more entertainment-media types who are newly in, although you need a score card to keep track.
Among them, Frank G. Mancuso had been out at Paramount, but now he’s in at MGM. Bill Mechanic, out at Disney’s home video division, is in at 20th Century Fox.
Women and minorities are still pretty much out of the executive suite, but at least minorities are back in at Denny’s. And in Williamson County, Tex.--thanks to Apple Computer--gays can finally be in. They can be in military service too, as long as no one knows they’re in.
By the way, John Sculley is out at Apple and Michael H. Spindler is in. While Steven Jobs is too far out in outer space to be out or in, the NeXT computer is out. Vibrating pagers are in, especially at the movies. Reality, we’re told, is out, and virtuality is in. That’s OK--reality has never been our forte.
Papa Bear David Packard is out at Hewlett-Packard and Lew Platt is in. John Akers is out at IBM and Louis V. Gerstner Jr. is in. At Eastman Kodak, Kay Whitmore is out; George M. C. Fisher is in.
Strong boards of directors are in. Founders are out: Richard K. Eamer and Leonard Cohen at National Medical Enterprises; Carl N. Karcher at Carl’s Jr. (even Happy Star wouldn’t fall for that “emeritus” stuff) and Robert Haft at Crown Books (we can’t wait for the roman a clef on that one).
Scoundrels are out. Charles H. Keating is out for 12 1/2 years longer. Charles W. Knapp is out $11 million and 6 1/2 years. Thomas Spiegel, long out of Columbia S&L;, is also out of his Beverly Hills home.
Locally, millionaire Mayor Richard Riordan is in, but his top economic development aide, Alfred R. Villalobos, is out.
Peter V. Ueberroth is out at RLA and Bernard Kinsey, Tony M. Salazar, Barry Sanders and Linda J. Wong soon will be out. Who knows who’ll be in?
Cereal and candy makers are trying to wipe out the scoldings of moms through the ages and teach kids that it’s in to play with their food. Calling Laser Pops and their ilk “interactive” doesn’t get them in, folks.
Better fast food for aging baby boomers is in.
And speaking of baby boomers, they’re still in. The Generation X kids can be in when they write these lists.
The MJs (Michaels Jackson and Jordan) are out. The Shaq is in.
Mind you, being popular or successful doesn’t equate to being in. Au contraire, being too far in is an automatic out. Like Barney. Too in with tykes; he’s out. And Barney hatemongering (though this is our favored side of the issue) is also too in--so it’s out.
By being very, very out, some things can get in. But not always. Political correctness is becoming so out that perhaps this year it’ll be back in.
Clear is halfway in, but clear beer is as out as near beer. Diversity is in and green is in, as long as it really does spare the environment another injury. Alternative-fuel vehicles are in, even if they’re still not in showrooms; had you ever before seen Detroit offer to make cars that surpass emissions standards?
Protectionism is out; free trade is in. American rice is in, in Japan, finally.
Fear of biotechnology, despite Jurassic Park, is out; good-tasting tomatoes, we promise you, will be in.
Well-conceived strikes are in; bullying of employees is out. Whistle-blowers are in. High executive salaries are out, and we’ll keep saying it until the word breaks through that glass ceiling.
Woolworth’s stores are out; Builders’ Emporium is way out, and neighborhood hardware stores are in.
Finally, we’d like to address Jose Ignacio Lopez de Arriotua, the onetime darling and purchasing chief at General Motors. Volkswagen will tell you that he’s in for good. But he confused us so much, jumping out and in and out again at GM, that, by default, he’s out.
What’s Out
Real entertainment
Company founders
David Letterman at NBC
Millionaire scoundrels
What’s In
Virtual enterainment
Strong boards of directors
David Letterman at CBS
Millionaire mayors