Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Besides keeping an eye on a couple of his Canadian paintings up for auction at Waddington’s this evening, no doubt Lord Black is watching with some interest and sympathy the plight of former H&R Block CEO and chairman Mark Ernst, who today resigned his position effective immediately. The man slated to take over as chairman is none other than Black’s nemesis, former SEC chairman Richard Breeden. Breeden led a proxy fight against Ernst in an effort to force the company to divest itself of its financial services operations and refocus on its core tax business. Having won the day, Breeden, not generally known for his warmth and generosity, said of Ernst, “In his years at H&R Block, Mark Ernst has worked tirelessly and with integrity to pursue the best interests of the company and its shareholders. The board of directors and his colleagues are grateful to Mark for his many years of dedicated service.” That’s just a smidge more congenial than his dictum that Black and his ilk be “left naked, homeless, and without wheels.”