Real estate magnate Frank McCourt is determined to build a healthier internet
Bostonians remember Frank McCourt Jr. for his real estate work. The people of Southern California know him best for his tenure as owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Lately, though, McCourt is focusing most of his efforts on how technology affects society, with a goal of building a healthier internet.
This week, McCourt takes on another role: published book author. Crown Publishing releases McCourt’s first book on Tuesday, co-written with journalist Michael J.
Casey and titled “Our Biggest Fight: Reclaiming Liberty, Humanity, and Dignity in the Digital Age.” On Saturday, McCourt and Casey appeared at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, to talk about how they believe the current internet is broken, and what can be done to fix it.
McCourt has deep concerns about data privacy and surveillance and had personal experience with being targeted online around the time of his high-profile divorce more than 10 years ago. Today, he is executive chairman of New York-based McCourt Global, a holding company for real estate, sports, and media ventures. As a builder, McCourt says he looks at the infrastructure behind the internet and sees a poor design, one in need of major repair.
In June 2021, McCourt announced the formation of Project Liberty, an ambitious initiative to upgrade the internet in a way that enables users to control their data. The initiative is investing in academic research, including at Harvard and MIT, as well as the development of a new open-source internet protocol. MeWe, an algorithm-free social network with 20 million-plus members, has started moving its users to this new protocol.
McCourt says he wants to present an alternative to the dominant social networks that encourage people to spend more time online, to sell more ads — a structure he believes encourages divisive
ness. Crown Publishing president David Drake, McCourt said, had similar concerns and jumped at the opportunity to publish the 224-page book on encouraging better online discourse.
“It’s the biggest issue of our generation, of our day,” McCourt said. “This issue is going to take a lot of work . . . . This book is a way to describe the problem and frame a solution.”
Tibbits-Nutt sees link between real estate and transportation challenges
If housing costs represent the biggest threat to Greater Boston’s economy, transportation issues are not far behind.
State transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt met with the real estate community last week alongside MBTA general manager Phil Eng to reassure the crowd that their boss, Governor Maura Healey, recognizes how transportation and economic development are inextricably linked. In his presentation at the event, hosted by NAIOP Massachusetts, Eng talked about steps he’s taken to improve T service.
Tibbits-Nutt, meanwhile, mentioned big ticket items on Healey’s to-do list: new Cape Cod bridges, a realignment of the Mass. Turnpike in Allston, and improved train service between the east and west parts of the state.
“We have $3 billion for transportation in this proposed budget,” she noted. “That’s a ton of money, unless you work in transportation.”
Tibbits-Nutt also talked about her own experience commuting from Devens along Route 2 — a drive that takes 45 minutes on a holiday, or up to 2 hours on a busy weekday. “When people talk about congestion,” she said, “I get it because I live it every day.”
Here’s another thing she knows about personally: the shortcomings in the state’s electric-car-charging infrastructure. “I drive an EV. The range anxiety, at least 95 percent of the time, has actually given me an anxiety disorder,” she joked. “I love EVs, but we’re just not ready for that level of change.”
O’Brien brings Greenough Communications downtown
Count Nikki Festa O’Brien among the local executives who are betting on the future of downtown Boston.
In one of her first acts as chief executive of brand marketing firm Greenough Communications, O’Brien decided to relocate the business from leased space in Watertown Square to a coworking office run by Industrious at 225 Franklin St. in Post Office Square. Her 30-person team will set up shop there on Oct. 1.
“Being near the action and having the ability to take multiple modes of transportation [to the office] is really important,” O’Brien said. “It seemed like the right time, and a good way to show the next chapter for Greenough Communications.”
O’Brien’s new job has been in the works for several years. In 2019, she started talking with founder Phil Greenough about a possible role in his firm. She eventually left her job at PAN Communications in the fall of 2022, to join Greenough as its president. In January, she officially rose to chief executive and became the firm’s owner through an internal buyout.
Despite the ownership switch, she has no plans to change the name of the company. The firm is well known among various high-tech and health care sectors, with prominent local clients such as Thermo Fisher Scientific, Arbella Insurance, solar developer Ameresco, and law firm Foley Hoag.
“We’ve been around 25 years, we have a strong foothold in these markets,” she added. “I didn’t want to lose that history or that reputation.”
New CEO at Keurig Dr Pepper has Texas address
The new chief executive of Keurig Dr Pepper has a home in Texas, not Massachusetts. So does that mean the power — not to mention investments in staffing — within the company will shift south?
Not at all, says a spokeswoman for KDP, which has dual headquarters in Burlington, Mass., and Frisco, Texas, because of the merger between Keurig and Dr Pepper in 2018. Current chief executive Bob Gamgort led Burlington-based Keurig before that merger, but he is shifting to an executive chairman role.
Taking his place will be Tim Cofer, who was hired last fall as KDP’s chief operating officer, with a plan to take over as chief executive this spring. Cofer previously was chief executive of California’s Central Garden & Pet, and before that, worked as a top executive at snack maker Mondelez International. Cofer is renting a place near Frisco right now but the KDP spokeswoman said his home address has no bearing on other management positions or staffing, and that Cofer will travel frequently, including to Burlington.
Cofer told analysts on his first KDP earnings call last month that he’s already visited the Burlington office as well as the company’s manufacturing plants.
He said he was impressed by the company’s iconic brands — ranging from 7-Up to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters — as well as its distribution capabilities and its focus on innovation.
“One of our greatest strengths is that we act with a challenger mindset,” Cofer said. “This is an important cultural element that attracted me to KDP and one which we plan to build upon going forward.”
Things are getting wacky at Cognex Corp.
At investor conferences, chief executives typically promise strong returns, better profit margins, or revenue increases. Robert Willett at Cognex Corp., a maker of machine-vision systems and sensors in Natick, went one step further last week at the annual Raymond James Institutional Investors Conference in Orlando. The chief executive promised “wackiness and creativity.”
Willett was making a point about having a strong corporate culture, where “Cognoids” work hard and play hard. He said investors and analysts should keep an eye out for the next annual report in a few weeks.
The last one, for 2022, had a Star Trek theme, with Willett and several other executives wearing Starfleet uniforms in the photos.
Willett also talked about the company’s Leap Day celebrations. “Cognoids around the world enter the contest [and] 10 of them will come to California and leap out of a plane with Dr. Bob Shillman,” he said.
A company spokesman declined to elaborate on the contest specifics. But one thing is certain: jumping out of plane with the company’s 77-year-old founder delivers on the promise of “wackiness and creativity.”