Li was at the shareholder meeting where Dow Jones lost its independence
and got sold to News Corp. To nobody’s surprise, shareholder activist Evelyn
Davis was there too, and decided to turn the event into a pop quiz for outgoing
Dow Jones CEO Rich Zannino:
Davis: I had heard you’re going to go back into retailing.
Let’s see how much Mr. Zannino remembers. I am wearing an outfit by a well
known Italian designer, who has been around a lot. Can you tell me who the
designer is?
Zannino: Let’s see if I still have my touch. It looks like
Valentino to me.
Davis: My God! You are right. You haven’t lost your touch
in retail. You would be a great CEO of Neiman Marcus and I hope you take it
public again.
Davis did, of course, then follow up with the quite-reasonable observation
that Zannino’s $20 million golden parachute is "a little bit high for somebody
who has been a CEO for only about two years". But hey, maybe it means that
Neiman Marcus won’t have to pay him so much!