Talk:Richard A. Baker (businessman)

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Edit requests to the Intro and Early life sections

Hi. I am Alexandra and I work for HBC. I hope you will be able to make the following edits which will update the article.

1. In the introductory section, after the first sentence, please replace the rest of the paragraph with the following: "He is the governor, CEO and executive chairman of HBC, executive chairman of each of HBC's portfolio companies and the owner of National Realty and Development Corp. (NRDC), a US-based private real estate development company."
2. Please remove "a Jewish family in" from the first sentence in the Early life section. This information is not needed to further the understanding of Baker's history.
3. Also, in the "Early life" section, please remove "Equity Partners" right after "NRDC" and add the new source. The source shows that it is called NRDC without the addition of "Equity Partners."
4. In the following sentence in the "Early life" section please replace "He has one sister, Lauren" with "He has one brother, Nelson, and two sisters, Lauren and Ashley."
5. Lastly, please remove "where he was a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity." The source does not support this statement.

Thanks a lot for helping out with these edits. Alexandra for HBC (talk) 15:06, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

 Done Heartmusic678 (talk) 15:18, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

References

Edit request for Career section

Hi, it's Alexandra again with a few more edit requests to the Career section.

1. In the last sentence of the first paragraph of the Career section, please replace the clause "borrowing to finance nearly all of the deal." with "through a deal centered on the company's real estate portfolio.", which is more accurate.
2. In the second paragraph, right after "In 2008," please replace "he bought" with "NRDC bought" which is more accurate.
3. At the end of the second paragraph please add the following: "In March 2020, he led a group of shareholders to take the company private. Baker also resumed the role of CEO when Helena Foulkes departed from the company.
4. At the end of the third paragraph it is incorrect to say the "properties located on the east and west coasts..." The correct wording is "properties located on the west coast of the United States." The source confirms that ROIC only operates on the west coast.
5. In the fourth paragraph please add "and his wife" so the second sentence more correctly reads "He and his wife are the namesake benefactors and sit on the Advisory Board of the Baker Program in Real Estate - a two-year graduate program in real estate at Cornell University.

References

Thanks so much. Alexandra for HBC (talk) 21:24, 31 January 2022 (UTC)

I'll have a look when next available. PK650 (talk) 00:57, 13 February 2022 (UTC)

@PK650: Have you had a chance to review this? Z1720 (talk) 00:26, 3 April 2022 (UTC)

Sorry buddy. Will definitely have a look this week! PK650 (talk) 10:39, 4 April 2022 (UTC)

 Partly done: Points 1 and 2 were not implemented, as what you request isn't reflected in the coverage. I'd be happy to implement point 5, but unfortunately the source you provided doesn't support the change. PK650 (talk) 08:25, 10 April 2022 (UTC)

Hi PK650, thank you for reviewing the edit requests and for the changes that you have already implemented. I realize some of the sourcing may not have been direct or clearly explained. I'd like to further explain my requests which you felt you couldn't implement due to insufficient coverage:

• Regarding the 2nd point, the provided source doesn't explicitly mention who bought HBC. The following sources, however, state explicitly in the titles and throughout the articles that NRDC acquired HBC. Therefore, please reconsider making the edit I asked for above in point #2, to change "he bought" to "NRDC bought," using the following as sources. The second part of that sentence can be a new sentence, so that it reads: In 2008, NRDC bought the Hudson's Bay Company, North America's oldest company (established by English royal charter in 1670). Baker then became its Governor (company chairman).
• Regarding the 5th and final point, this new source explicitly states that Richard and his wife, Lisa, gave the $11 million gift. Therefore, it is correct to mention Baker's wife as well, so that the sentence should read: “He and his wife are the namesake benefactors and sit on the Advisory Board of the Baker Program in Real Estate - a two-year graduate program in real estate at Cornell University.”

References

Thank you again for taking the time to reconsider this request. Alexandra for HBC (talk) 14:26, 25 April 2022 (UTC)

Thank you. This is a tough one, to tell you the truth. The source doesn't directly attribute the endowment to them both, but merely states that he and his wife "gave" an amount to the program titled "Baker Program in Real Estate", never actually stating the program's "namesake benefactor" are actually them both. As a compromise, what do you think of the wording I implemented? If this is not amenable to your request, I will simply reverse back to the original wording, but unfortunately I don't think your precise turn of phrase is completely accurate. PK650 (talk) 05:12, 6 May 2022 (UTC)

Hi PK650, Thanks so much for changing the sentence about the Cornell donation. I accept your judgment and I am happy with your choice of words for that sentence. I wonder if you could also address the first bullet point above, about changing "he bought" to "NRDC bought." It is more accurate, and the Wall Street Journal article I included, states clearly that it was NRDC that purchased the Hudson's Bay Company, and not Baker. All the best. Alexandra for HBC (talk) 12:48, 10 May 2022 (UTC)

Done. PK650 (talk) 10:54, 14 May 2022 (UTC)

Hi PK650, Thanks so much for your edits. Your help is much appreciated. Best wishes, Alexandra for HBC (talk) 13:49, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

Edit requests to Intro, Early Life and Career sections; request for the addition of a Philanthropy section

Hello. I am Tre and I work for Richard Baker at HBC. I would like to request updates and corrections on Richard’s Wikipedia biography page. My requests are as follows:

1. For the Infobox, please:
   • Under Education, please correct his diploma from “(B.A.)” to “(B.S.)” – he received a Bachelor of Science degree, not a Bachelor of Arts degree, per this source.
2. In the Introduction, please:
   • Given that Baker’s position as the Chairman of the Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. (ROIC) is a position of importance, we request it be added to the introduction. In order to avoid a long run-on sentence; I suggest splitting the current sentence in two.
     • For clarity, please replace this sentence: “He is the governor, CEO and executive chairman of Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), executive chairman of each of HBC's portfolio companies and the owner of National Realty and Development Corp. (NRDC), a US-based private real estate development company”
     • With these two sentences and sources: “He is the Governor, CEO, and Executive Chairman of Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and executive chairman of each of HBC's eight portfolio companies. He is also the owner of National Realty and Development Corp. (NRDC), a US-based private real estate development and investment company, and is the Chairman of the Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. (ROIC), a public real estate company.”
3. In the Early Life section:
   • Please add the following paragraph between the sentence ending in “Lauren and Ashley” and the sentence starting “He graduated from”:
     • “As a teenager, Baker spent many of his weekends shadowing his father, a real-estate developer, during visits to shopping centers throughout the Northeastern United States. At 15, Baker attended the École de Cuisine La Varenne, a cooking school in Paris; he subsequently started a catering business that employed fellow classmates and catered parties in his hometown.”
   • Please modify the sentence starting with “He graduated from” to the following sentence and sources, for better detail and grammar: “He graduated from the Brunswick School and received a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Management from Cornell University in 1988.”
4. In the Career section:
   • Please add the following two sentences and sources after the sentence ending in “to finance the deal”:
     • “In 2017, Baker sold the Lord & Taylor flagship building on Fifth Avenue for $850 million to WeWork. Two years later, he sold the Lord & Taylor operating company for $100 million to Le Tote.”
   • Please remove the following sentence, as Baker is no longer the chairman of Lord & Taylor following the company's 2019 sale, per this source: “He has served as Chairman of Lord & Taylor since 2006.”
   • For additional clarity and sourcing, please modify the phrase “In 2008, NRDC bought the Hudson's Bay Company,” to “In 2008, Baker led NRDC’s purchase of the Toronto-based Hudson's Bay Company (HBC),”
     • Note: Even though the acronym HBC is already added to the introduction, it would be helpful to add it here as well, and then change all subsequent mentions of “Hudson's Bay Company” to “HBC” on the rest of the page. I will detail each instance below.
   • Please replace the following sentences, as there are several issues with them: they are not in chronological order, they have grammatical errors, and mention of Jerry Storch’s resignation is not a relevant detail in the greater biography. Note that aside from the mention of Jerry Storch’s resignation, I’ve retained all the other facts in these sentences; they’ve just been re-ordered to appear chronologically amidst new biographical information:
     • Sentences to replace: “On November 1, 2017, he took over as interim CEO of the company when Jerry Storch's resignation became effective. Hudson's Bay Company had gone public in November 2012 and was then listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In March 2020, he led a group of shareholders to take the company private. Baker also resumed the role of CEO when Helena Foulkes departed from the company.”
     • Replace with the following new paragraphs and sources: “In November 2012, HBC was publicly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, at which time Baker assumed the role of interim CEO until the appointment of Helena Foulkes as CEO in 2018. [NEW PARAGRAPH] In 2013, Baker led the acquisition by HBC of Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks OFF 5TH through the $2.9 billion purchase of its parent company, Saks Inc. [NEW PARAGRAPH] In 2015, as HBC’s chairman, Richard orchestrated the acquisition of Germany's largest department store chain, Galeria Kaufhof. In 2018, HBC sold part of its German real estate assets to Signa Holding, the owner of the German department store Karstadt, for €411 million as the two companies entered into a merger agreement valued at €3.25 billion. The following year, HBC sold its remaining stake in the merger for $1.5 billion to Signa Group, thus exiting the European market. [NEW PARAGRAPH] In March 2020, Baker led a group of shareholders to take HBC private, at which time he resumed the role of CEO in addition to his existing role as Executive Chairman. [NEW PARAGRAPH] In October of that year, HBC created a dedicated investments and real estate business, HBC Properties and Investments, responsible for the operation of 40 million square feet of leasable area throughout North America. [NEW PARAGRAPH] In August 2021, Baker led the expansion of Hudson’s Bay department stores with the launch of the company’s online marketplace, TheBay.com.”
   • In the last paragraph of the career section, please modify the following sentences to add additional details and sources, and to improve the grammar:
     • Current sentences to modify: “He sits on the advisory board of the Cornell University School of Hotel Management. He sits on the advisory board of the Baker Program in Real Estate - a two-year graduate program in real estate at Cornell University.”
     • Replace with the following sentences and sources: “Baker has served on the board of trustees of Cornell University since 2014. He also sits on the advisory boards of the Cornell University School of Hotel Management and the Baker Program in Real Estate–a two-year real estate graduate program at Cornell University.”
       • Note: Regarding the Cornell.edu source used in this paragraph, per "WP:Independent sources" guidance on third-party vs independent sources, we request that you consider this source as a valid third-party source for these edit requests, as Cornell would not “stand to gain from” anything by stating that Baker is a member of their board; it is simply a unbiased fact being relayed to the public.
5. I am requesting the creation of a new section, titled “Philanthropy,” below the Career section, to detail Baker’s extensive history with corporate and personal philanthropy. The suggested additions below do not include all of Baker’s philanthropy; it highlights only the major and most impactful gifts.
   • Please move this final sentence of the Career section to the new Philanthropy section: “Baker and his wife contributed $11 million to Cornell's Program in Real Estate, now the Baker Program in Real Estate in 2012.”
   • Please add the following new information and sources to the Philanthropy section:
     • “According to HBC, as Chairman of the Hudson's Bay Foundation, Baker has overseen the disbursement of more than C$100 million in cash and in-kind donations to Canadian charities, to include the Canadian Olympic Foundation, the Paralympic Foundation of Canada, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada. [NEW PARAGRAPH] In 2013, under Baker’s leadership, the Hudson’s Bay Company announced that it had directed $200,000 to the American Red Cross and Canadian Red Cross in support of Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts in the Philippines. Following the Western Africa Ebola Outbreak in 2014, the Hudson’s Bay Company Foundation again partnered with the Canadian Red Cross to match $50,000 in donations to support emergency response operations in affected countries and combat the spread of the virus. In 2021, the Foundation announced the launch of the Hudson’s Bay Charter for Change initiative to accelerate racial equity in Canada with a $30 million gift spread over 10 years. In 2022, Baker announced the donation of an historic building in downtown Winnipeg by HBC to the First Nations people. [NEW PARAGRAPH] Baker also serves as President of the Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation. As of October 2022, the Foundation announced that it had donated over $5.8 million to various US mental health initiatives.”

References

Thank you very much for all your help, Tre Dan for HBC (talk) 19:17, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

 Done This looks pretty neutrally written with sufficient references. I wouldn't make the philanthropy section much longer than that though, or else it would look overly promotional. Thanks for declaring your COI and following Wikipedia's rules and guidelines. MSteinburg (talk) 05:52, 27 January 2023 (UTC)