Bryan appears to either be simple-minded on his approach to running SOLV (into the ground) or being directed by a higher power or deity who has no idea how to run a HC company (Peltz). Either way, he has once again proven that the GE style (Welch, McNerney, Nardelli) of "leadership" simply emaciates a once-strong company into a parceled mess of unrelated businesses waiting for a spin or break-up.
Thankfully, I got to leave during the Covid wave of layoffs and enjoy retirement and coffee mornings on the porch, but still care from time to time about what was left behind.
When Bryan was named CEO before the actual spin and gave his first townhall, people on this board sounded so optimistic, which made sense since Roman was a complete buffoon as CEO. Not sure if he talked much about actual strategies for growth and investment or he just used soothing words and bubblegum phrases to get people to like him, but the shine has clearly worn off.
Annual layoffs, as occurred at 3M under Roman and now at SOLV, only prove you have either NO long-term strategy except for HOPE or you have a strategy that changes faster than the weather in Minnesota every spring and fall day. Either way, Wall Street has (finally!) learned that such a "strategy" is a loser and has kept SOLV stock changing mostly sideways while the SP500 is up over 15%.
Having read a few of the public SOLV releases to shareholders, it appears that SOLV is not likely to have any major runout during Bryan's term. NO long-term growth = no long-term ROI. He has never indicated either to employees or Wall Street what his plan is to reduce the massive debt 3M left in his mailbox. He is the antithesis to Lee Iacocca who earned $1 per year and potentially worthless stock options while flying commercial to DC to lobby for loan guarantees.
Perhaps the only strategy that will work is a series of mergers and spins with other HC companies to spread the debt across multiple companies, hopefully stronger and run for growth. But where would this leave Bryan and his guaranteed 40 million per year? That's the sting! I'm convinced a McKnight CEO would quickly be forced out by some activist investor wanting a quick return for their buck like Peltz.
If there's any consolation, Peltz is basically sitting on dead money with 600+ million invested, almost zero gain on the stock price, and no dividend for perhaps years to come. No wonder he keeps pushing for more layoffs. But the layoffs people talked about this week appear to wiping out business critical roles that will only hurt SOLV and help the competition.
Sorry to hear about this 2nd round of Holiday layoffs. The people at 3M/SOLV deserved much better than Roman, Hanson, and Brown.