finance

Frisch’s Big Boy, a local Cincinnati Restaurant chain, was purchased by National Restaurant Developers (NRD) and taken private in 2015. As part of this transaction, NRD used Frisch’s own buildings and land as collateral to finance the transaction and store remodeling. After Covid, Frisch’s struggled to cope and was eventually served eviction notices in 2024. We review the transaction and strategy, and the lessons that can be learned. Author’s note: My dad recently passed away in August. He used to…

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is a Fortune 35 firm specializing in food processing and distribution. They recently announced an accounting revision, together with their Chief Financial Officer’s resignation. The accounting revision specifically modified the profit distribution across ADM’s segments and showed that profits at ADM’s were previously overstated. Executive compensation at ADM was tied directly to the Nutrition segment’s performance. Essentially, each executive stood to gain $7.4 million in variable compensation from the misstatement. Archer Daniels Midland’s compensation plan unwittingly…

Reddit – a popular social media and discussion board – has created significant waves after announcing an intention to charge for access to its API. The Reddit API is used by other developers to create automation, programs, and, most importantly, 3rd party clients. This announcement has led to widespread outrage on Reddit. In this post, I’ll review why Reddit is charging for their API what it’s doing especially ahead of it’s upcoming IPO.