Former Rogers CEO Joe Natale is suing the company for wrongful dismissal and breach of contract, alleging Rogers chairman Edward Rogers carried out “malicious, high-handed, and oppressive conduct.”
In a statement of claim filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Thursday, Natale accused Edward and his wife Suzanne Rogers of attempting to “tarnish his reputation” following his ouster in November 2021.
But Rogers called its former chief executive’s claims “baseless” and alleged Natale “engaged in serious misconduct” while serving at the company’s helm. It said as a result, it has now terminated Natale for cause.
In court filings, Natale accused Edward and Suzanne Rogers of hiring actor Brian Cox of HBO’s Succession to create a “demeaning” video about him and allegedly distributing it to family members, friends and colleagues, before it was eventually reported on by media.
The video included a message congratulating Edward Rogers on his “real-life succession at Rogers Communications” and used an expletive to describe Natale’s departure from the company.
He said he and his firm Natale Industries Inc. are entitled to a combined $24 million, including $4 million from an unpaid bonus related to the closing of Rogers’ acquisition of Shaw Communication Inc. in April.
None of the claims in Natale’s suit have been tested in court.
Boardroom struggle
Natale’s departure from the Toronto-based telecommunications giant was announced following a boardroom power struggle over the chairman’s desire to replace him with then-chief financial officer Tony Staffieri.
Edward’s initial attempt to oust Natale in favour of his No. 2 led instead to Staffieri’s departure in September 2021, as well as a board vote that saw Edward removed from his seat at the head of the table.
Rogers Communications plagued with leadership dispute and family infighting
Telecom giant Rogers Communications has been thrown into turmoil over an internal leadership dispute between members of the Rogers family itself. All this while the company tries to finalize a massive $26 billion deal to take over Shaw Communications.
Edward penned a shareholder resolution — without a shareholder meeting — to oust the five directors who had defied him. The company filed a legal challenge to his revamped board, sparking a court battle over who actually served on it.
Staffieri replaced Natale as president and CEO in the aftermath of the ruling.
In the court filings, Natale said he negotiated and agreed upon the terms of his severance in a series of meetings with Edward in September 2021, that were approved by the Rogers board.
But he said a group of board members then asked him to stay on as CEO against Edward’s wishes “to support the strategic priorities of the business, including to complete the Shaw Deal and support the complex regulatory approvals and post-merger integration efforts.”
Natale said the company enhanced his employment terms in written contracts in October 2021, before he was terminated the next month. He said the company has a contractual obligation from those deals to provide him with certain entitlements on a termination without cause but has refused to do so, “instead only providing Natale with compensation consistent with a termination without cause” under his previous contract.
Rogers chair Edward Rogers, left, won a battle with former CEO Joe Natale, right, for control of the company. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press)
In a statement, Natale spokesman Bill Walker of MidtownPR said “it is unfortunate that Rogers will not honour its commitments made to Mr. Natale.”
“His employment agreement, put in place by the board of directors at the time was clearly articulated, duly executed and designed to ensure continuity during the Shaw merger,” Walker said in an email.
“We are confident that the courts will share this view.”
Rogers spokesperson Sarah Schmidt said the company plans to “defend itself vigorously against his baseless claim” and will file a counterclaim to address alleged “improper behaviour” on Natale’s part.
“An independent investigation has revealed that Joe Natale engaged in serious misconduct during his time as CEO. As a result, we have made the necessary decision to terminate him for cause,” Schmidt said.
“While we would have preferred to deal with this matter privately, Mr. Natale has left us with no choice.”
Schmidt said that Rogers’ investigation revealed that in October 2021, Natale knew steps were being taken to make changes to the company’s board which would end his tenure as CEO. She alleged Natale awarded himself “excessive compensation without proper board approval” before his departure.
“This, and other actions, were a serious breach of his fiduciary duties as a chief executive officer and director of a public company,” she said.
“Mr. Natale was aware of the investigation and given an opportunity to respond. He understood the implications of its findings and the lawsuit is an attempt to get ahead of the investigation.”
Earlier this year, Sun Life Financial Inc. named Natale to its board of directors.
Natale had been chief executive at Telus Corp. before joining Rogers.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
