Chief Executive
Tom Glocer: it's not just about money
Wednesday 31 March 2010
“We want incredible, high-performing, successful people but within the boundaries where the company matters more than I. There'll be another chief executive. There've been nine before me at Reuters and, if you think in longer terms, it puts a bit of perspective just on how bright is your candle power,” the CEO said in a radio broadcast.
“It's not just about money, but there is a market out there for talent. People are more aware of it than they think. To pretend that it's no issue at all and that people will just stay for the joy of it, I think, ultimately, is insulting but, conversely, if you believe you can bribe people to stay in a hostile environment or money's the only thing that motivates them, all of the research, all of my experience, shows differently. In fact what the best research show is that the single highest correlating factor to retaining employees and job satisfaction is: my manager understands me, cares about me, maybe knows the names of my children and is interested in my work and helps me achieve my goals. But don't try and pay me half the market rate, 'cos you'll just, you know, you'll diss me.”
Glocer described a cycle which he said was true for human beings, for companies and for governments where success and high achievement breeds pride, “that's OK, then breeds arrogance, not OK, then breeds complacency, egotistical behaviour, and then the downfall, and you see that cycle over and over again.
“And it is the rare individual and the rare company that can stay when it's at the top of the game. How paranoid are you? … You need to keep that humble questioning, otherwise eventually you'll just believe your own PR.”
Glocer was speaking in a panel discussion on BBC Radio 4 programme The Bottom Line, first broadcast on Sunday 28 March.
Interviewer Evan Davies also asked Glocer about the motivation for Thomson’s 2008 takeover of Reuters. Was it that Reuters suddenly found itself facing the most intense competition in the most lucrative bit of the market from players like Bloomberg? Was Reuters getting a bit desperate?
Glocer’s reply: “No, Reuters went through – I arrived in the UK and took on the job as chief executive in the summer of 2001 and the period 2001 to 2003 was the near-death experience for Reuters, and it was really difficult. You know, we had to do some very unpopular things. I had to do some things that I still find hard to this day. We let a lot of people go which substantially restructured the company, we sold a lot of units, but until the time we agreed to the Thomson acquisition we had come through that hole and were growing nicely again. The fit with Thomson was just so good, and their willingness to come at the right moment and pay a substantial premium for Reuters was there, that we jumped.”
Asked about the decline of newspapers, Glocer said: “At the margin, the traditional Reuters news agency selling to media customers is now about two per cent of the $13 billion annual revenues of the firm… It's very visible, we care about it a lot, it's still a profitable business but, you know, the shift in our revenues reflects where we find profitable opportunities, and yes, the newspaper world is going through a terrible, wrenching transformation. Part of it, I think, is because people can't wrap their brains around a pretty straightforward transition which is: newspapers don't have to be on physical wood paper pulp technology, right? It just so happens that the current processes lasted for so long no one can think about what does journalism mean in an iPad world, or son of iPad, and what will it look like. So, I think this is not the death knell of journalism, it is the death knell of people who insist that journalism has to be about printing on dead trees.”
● CLICK to view a video version of the radio broadcast (available only in the UK) | VIDEO
News chief in Trust Principles pledge to staff after ‘minor uprising’
Friday 15 January 2010
Employees would be proud to hear how one of their executives handled hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen, the New York Post reported on Friday.
“At least, that's how Devin Wenig, CEO of the markets division, is telling it,” it said. As head of markets, Wenig leads the group’s global financial services and media businesses. If they could see a transcript of his call with the founder of SAC Capital Advisors in December, staffers would be pleased, Wenig told staff during a conference call on Wednesday, the Post said.
“The comments come on the heels of a minor uprising at the news agency, after reporters discovered that editors killed a story looking into Cohen's trades after the hedge funder called Wenig to complain,” it said in a report under the headline “Reuters CEO defense killed Cohen story”.
Reporters Matthew Goldstein and Svea Herbst-Bayliss have been looking into allegations that Cohen engaged in insider trading in the 1980s. After Cohen's complaint, Wenig called editor-in-chief David Schlesinger and the story was subsequently killed.
Wenig assured staff he would never jeopardise the company’s 150-year history or the Trust Principles, under which Reuters acts at all times with integrity, independence and freedom from bias, the Post said.
“Wenig also defended Schlesinger, saying he has 30 years of unblemished record under his belt. The CEO explained that he receives similar complaints at least once a week and always refers them to Schlesinger or the appropriate editor.”
In a conference call a week earlier, staff questioned Schlesinger about the spiked story. US media blogs characterised the call as tense and said the editor-in-chief faced down a string of angry and confused journalists demanding to know precisely why their boss spiked it. The episode was said to have severely demoralised staff.
Schlesinger denounced “false blog stories” accusing Reuters of caving in to a wealthy hedge fund manager and berated staff for “running to a blog and spreading[ing] tittle-tattle” instead of raising concerns internally. “Keep it within editorial, and don’t go running to a blog,” he was quoted as saying.
A Schlesinger e-mail to staff that found its way to blogs referred to journalists’ concern over the reports and said: “…never doubt the commitment of this company and of me to our Trust principles and journalistic ethics”.
● SOURCE New York Post
● Reuters Trust Principles
Thomson Reuters almost back to pre-Lehman bankruptcy levels - Tom Glocer
Monday 16 November 2009
Thomson Reuters has been hurt by the demise of several Wall Steet firms but was able to pick up business from acquirers such as Barclays and Nomura and is almost back to pre-Lehman Brothers bankruptcy levels, Tom Glocer said on Monday.
"We've gotten the business back much faster than I expected," the chief executive said on the sidelines of the WSJ CEO Council in New York.
The financial business, however, continues to be slow. He pointed to health care, science and tax and accounting services as a growth area.
Glocer said the United States should see a slow climb back to employment but some jobs aren't coming back because they have been eliminated, or sent overseas, or replaced by technology.
Thomson Reuters has continued to selectively hire and continues to do so, he said. The company did not make any major job cuts and does not foresee any. Instead, he said it has slowed the pace of hiring to contain operating costs.
● SOURCE The Wall Street Journal / Dow Jones Newswires
"We've gotten the business back much faster than I expected," the chief executive said on the sidelines of the WSJ CEO Council in New York.
The financial business, however, continues to be slow. He pointed to health care, science and tax and accounting services as a growth area.
Glocer said the United States should see a slow climb back to employment but some jobs aren't coming back because they have been eliminated, or sent overseas, or replaced by technology.
Thomson Reuters has continued to selectively hire and continues to do so, he said. The company did not make any major job cuts and does not foresee any. Instead, he said it has slowed the pace of hiring to contain operating costs.
● SOURCE The Wall Street Journal / Dow Jones Newswires
No interest in buying print media says Tom Glocer
Friday 06 November 2009
The question was put to the chief executive by correspondent Robert MacMillan, pictured, who covers Thomson Reuters as part of his media beat.
“Covering Thomson Reuters Corp for almost two years has taught me that people like to cast my company in a recurring role in media deal parlor games,” he writes in a Reuters blog. “Now that the company’s arch-rival Bloomberg LP will buy BusinessWeek magazine from McGraw-Hill, lots of my pals in the media world are wondering: Will Thomson Reuters buy a mainstream news or business news magazine? Or newspaper? Why not Forbes? Why not the Financial Times?
“Keep in mind that Thomson Reuters likes to remind people when they ask these questions that Thomson Corp, before buying Reuters, got out of its Canadian newspaper empire for a reason.
“I asked our chief executive, Tom Glocer, a question along these lines on a Thursday phone call he had with reporters to discuss the company’s third-quarter financial results."
Glocer's reply: “Thomson did a remarkable job, far earlier than any other company I know, of seeing what was coming and transitioning their business out of print for the most part… I don’t see any particular time or reason at this juncture why we should go the other way.”
MacMillan returned to the theme when he interviewed Glocer later in the day and used the Financial Times as an example. He got a similarly dismissive response from the CEO.
What about other properties, MacMillan enquired.
"Is it impossible that somewhere in the world that we'd take a print property and move it electronic? No, but we're not looking to go out and buy consumer print publications. That’s not what we think our business is,” Glocer replied.
Robert Daleo, chief financial officer, said Thomson Reuters was a company where “what we shy away from are advertising-based models. We charge for content, we charge for information and news”.
What about reuters.com, an ad-supported site that runs Reuters news? Glocer said: “I would argue that the overwhelming amount of our news is behind the firewall in the sense that you only get it as part of a product that you pay for. It’s great that we have it. I’m very proud of reuters.com. I use it on weekends and evenings when I’m not in front of my bigger service, my subscription service.”
● SOURCE Reuters
Thomson Reuters Q3 profit tumbles in 'challenging environment'
Thursday 05 November 2009
The group earned $162 million, or 19 cents per share, in the three months ended 30 September – down from $404 million or 49 cents per share a year earlier. Underlying operating profit rose three per cent to $711 million in the third quarter, from $690 million a year ago.
CEO Tom Glocer told investment analysts it was a challenging environment.
"Despite difficult market conditions, our businesses delivered solid results in the third quarter," he said. "Our Tax & Accounting and Healthcare & Science businesses continued to perform very strongly, and sales of subscription products in our Markets and Legal units improved in Q3 over what we expect were their bottom in Q2. While the weak year-to-date net sales experienced in recent quarters are now flowing through into revenues, we expect this dip to be shallow and limited to the next few quarters.
"Our ongoing focus on the Reuters integration and close cost management across the company has enabled us to continue to grow underlying operating profit. While we would welcome a quick return to revenue growth, we understand how to operate in challenging markets and we are confident that we are outperforming the competition," Glocer said.
Adjusted earnings from continuing operations slipped to 43 cents per share from 47 cents a year ago, beating average analyst forecasts of 40 cents per share.
Thomson Reuters said its revenue slipped four per cent to $3.22 billion, partly because of unfavourable foreign exchange rates.
"While the weak year-to-date net sales experienced in recent quarters are now flowing through into revenues, we expect this dip to be shallow and limited to the next few quarters," Glocer said.
Revenue from ongoing businesses, excluding the impact of foreign exchange rates, fell two per cent to $3.21 billion. The average analyst forecast was $3.23 billion.
In the markets division, revenue from the media operation including Reuters news agency fell by 14 per cent to $90 million amid consolidation among traditional media outlets such as newspapers.
Overall corporate expenses tripled from a year earlier to $163 million in the third quarter, due in part to integration costs.
Thomson Reuters re-affirmed its previous guidance: it expects revenue to grow this year and underlying operating profit margin and free cash flow to be comparable to 2008.
● SOURCE Reuters | Financial Post
Tom Glocer collects transatlantic business award
Thursday 05 November 2009
The British Ambassador to the United States, Nigel Sheinwald, presented the award which is handed out each year by BritishAmerican Business. BABI is dedicated to helping companies connect and build their business on both sides of the Atlantic. Glocer is a member of its international advisory board.
He told guests at a dinner at the Pierre Hotel on Tuesday 3 November: “Thomson Reuters spans the Atlantic and then the world. From time to time (especially in lean times) much is made of the rivalry between New York and London as great financial centers. However, it has always seemed to me that the qualities we share in common and the links that bind us are stronger than our differences”.
The two cities provide “a most fertile ground for a professional information company like Thomson Reuters to thrive in”, he added. “I accept this award on behalf of all my colleagues at Thomson Reuters in the hope and belief that we shall remain intertwined in the success of London and New York for many years to come”.
Deputy chairman Niall FitzGerald is a past recipient of the award.
● SOURCE Reuters | BABI
Thomson Reuters 'working as strategic partner on BusinessWeek bid'
Wednesday 07 October 2009
“Thomson Reuters has publicly been saying that it has no interest in bidding for BusinessWeek, ever since the news that it was on the block came out. And that was true, until Bloomberg and later ZelnickMedia came into the picture: the multimedia business media giant is working as a strategic partner in the ZelnickMedia bid for BusinessWeek, we have learned from multiple sources. It will not contribute any cash to the deal, if successful, but presumably will have some sort of a content and distribution arrangement,” it reported.
“Also, with Zelnick’s bid, we have also learned that there may be other monetary investors involved, though Zelnick surely is the lead on this. As has been reported previously, Zelnick is being advised by former WSJ publisher and Dow Jones exec Gordon Crovitz, who is not likely to take any operating role if the bid is successful.
As for the reasons Thomson Reuters got interested again, one source said it is because of Bloomberg: it wants to keep a bitter rival from getting a more consumer-facing media brand. Both Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters have been trying to diversify with their consumer efforts, as has been well documented.”
PaidContent said another source says the final decision "is not as imminent as it is being made out in press, which probably means there’s some due diligence left on who to choose between the two – unless some last-second bid also comes in." Reuters declined comment on “market rumor or speculation".
The website added: “Interestingly, Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer recently penned a column for BW the mag, on its recent issue about the role of optimism in business. And he mentioned on his blog that among the reasons he did the post for the mag: 'BusinessWeek itself has been the subject of a number of swipes in other publications ever since rumors of its purported sale began to leak, and I was happy to support Steve Adler and his very professional team at BW. The fact that the economic model for business news has shifted rapidly under the feet of BW, Forbes and Fortune should not now be seen to detract from the quality of the work of their journalists.'”
● SOURCE PaidContent
● Tom Glocer’s blog
● BusinessWeek
Tom Glocer: the naked truth
Tuesday 28 July 2009
Tom Glocer’s executive blog is no place for the naked truth, The Daily Telegraph said on Tuesday.
“Chief executive blogs are a tricky balancing act,” the newspaper’s City diarist wrote under the headline “Glocer’s executive blog no place for naked truth”.
“Keep focused on the business and you’re accused of being dry, stray into other areas and you risk imparting too much information…
“Tom Glocer, head honcho at Reuters, plunged headlong into the latter camp with his recent posting about a trip to the sauna. After a good 500 words devoted to how he taught his son to ride a bike this summer, Glocer leaves us with the line: ‘My hard work done for the day, I returned to perspiring beer with Harto in the sauna.’
“Call us prudish but Diary feels a little uncomfortable at the image of a potentially nude Glocer, red-faced and sweaty, shooting the breeze with his 81-year-old father-in-law.”
● SOURCE The Daily Telegraph | Tom Glocer’s Blog
“Chief executive blogs are a tricky balancing act,” the newspaper’s City diarist wrote under the headline “Glocer’s executive blog no place for naked truth”.
“Keep focused on the business and you’re accused of being dry, stray into other areas and you risk imparting too much information…
“Tom Glocer, head honcho at Reuters, plunged headlong into the latter camp with his recent posting about a trip to the sauna. After a good 500 words devoted to how he taught his son to ride a bike this summer, Glocer leaves us with the line: ‘My hard work done for the day, I returned to perspiring beer with Harto in the sauna.’
“Call us prudish but Diary feels a little uncomfortable at the image of a potentially nude Glocer, red-faced and sweaty, shooting the breeze with his 81-year-old father-in-law.”
● SOURCE The Daily Telegraph | Tom Glocer’s Blog
