Let Them Eat Dividends

After all that, former Sherwin-Williams executive Monty Griffin had some advice for me, like a bug on the windshield telling the driver to change lanes. Still unable to hold his thumbs, allowing me to call his basic comprehension into question.  

In an email sent in reply to my post, Griffin suggested I seek legal counsel prior to mentioning his name again, perhaps thinking there was some law protecting assholes from being called out?  His threat begs further rebuke, but it’s not my job to teach Monty any more lessons. Such as how defamation laws work, which he should have researched before tendering his reply.  Absent that step, he only gave more evidence in support of my original contention. 

But Monty’s in luck.  Because I never wanted to write about him to begin with, it was only his libels which brought on this response.  With that record set straight, I had no plans to mention his name again, preferring instead to stay focused on the job at hand: forcing ethics onto Cleveland.

In fact I don't even plan to reply to his email, so that Monty gets the last word between us. Unless he’s still reading THE blog, as I suspect his immaturity and compulsions are requiring that he do. Lips moving as his brain considers my words, he's just now becoming aware that he’s not smart enough to bully me.

And that it’s all bullshit till the cease-and-desist.   

Last week at Sherwin-Williams’ national sales meeting in Orlando, CEO Heidi Petz told those assembled that she saved jobs when she paused that company’s 401(k) match in September of last year.  Knowing what she was going to say, Petz threatened the group not to boo when she spoke, more evidence of how bad morale is at Sherwin right now. 

Though it’s good to see that Heidi recognizes she’s the problem.

On an earnings call later in the week Petz told the finance bros that Sherwin had set a record, generating more than $3.4 billion in free cash flow in 2025, up nearly 10% as compared to the previous year.  Awash in that cash, Petz recommended that Sherwin’s board increase their dividend for the 48^th consecutive year. 

But earlier in the week Petz told employees she had no choice but to cut the 401(k) match, forgetting to mention the extra $3.4 billion.  And that she saved jobs doing it, a claim which was later debunked when Sherwin CFO Ben Meisenzahl told the bros Sherwin had realized a $46 million annualized savings from "restructuring actions.” 

THE jobs which Heidi claimed to have saved by pausing the 401(k) match. No wonder she was expecting them to boo!     

Now that Petz has suspended her suspension of the 401(k) match and promised retroactive restoration to make all employees whole by the end of this month, it becomes possible to measure what was gained and what was lost.  Though what was gained may be impossible to measure absent Petz answering that question herself.  She did get to use those few dollars for those four months, but at a time she was drowning in cash, exposing in the least a myopia which makes her ill-suited for that job.

And that she would trade so little for her standing with employees exposes worse than that. 

Last week I went live on Thursday night, my first foray into that genre.  After a few minutes spent detailing the findings of my investigation into wage theft at Sherwin-Williams, I opened the floor to a no rules Q & A.  Taking place on the same day I dropped the Monty blog, the event held potential for kinetics though in that way it turned out disappointing. 

But sans that letdown the live was a success, with 25 other paint geeks joining me while I recorded a podcast followed by a no rules Q & A. Amongst other questions, I was asked when I would be live again discussing Pittsburgh? Which was the original topic planned for that night, until news shifted the demographics and it became clear that y'all wanted to talk about something else.

This week I’ll be live and putting Pittsburgh back on the front pages, on Thursday, February 5^th here. 

I’ll begin with a summary of a call I had recently with a top source inside Pittsburgh’s stores division, that information informing my expectations from Cranberry this year, which I also will get into.

After that short riff, I’ll open the floor to a no rules Q & A, where anyone will be free to ask me anything.  So if Pittsburgh CEO Brian Carson wants to know why nobody is buying the assets he keeps offering up for sale, Thursday night will be his chance.