Healthy Returns
First Horizon National Corp. has come up with a way to encourage its employees to be more healthy — giving them money even if they just walk to the store or play with their kids.
The Memphis company has teamed up with Virgin HealthMiles, a U.S. unit of Virgin Group of London, to create an employee health program that gives monetary rewards for physical activity. For example, participants wear a pedometer, which tracks daily activity. They can then upload the data onto the Virgin HealthMiles Web site.
Employees can receive incremental rewards of $25, $75 and $150 as they accumulate points for various activities, up to $500 a year if they accumulate 35,000 points, said John Daniel, executive vice president of human resources for First Horizon.
"Research has shown that if you give people reasonable goals and make it fun, it will actually change their health behaviors," Daniel said.
Participation is voluntary. Employees pay $2.50 every two weeks on payday, to offset the program's cost.
Objective Distance
Kelly King agrees with predecessor John Allison on many things, but the chief executive of BB&T Corp. draws a line on Ayn Rand.
Allison, who retired as BB&T's CEO in December and remains its chairman, is widely known to be a disciple of Rand's teachings on objectivism. One of Allison's passions involves implementing capitalism studies at universities that teach Rand's philosophy.
King, appearing on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Tuesday to discuss the Winston-Salem, N.C., company's government-assisted purchase of Colonial Bank, was asked if he felt the same way.
After prodding, King said he is "not nearly as far down the road" on Rand as Allison. "We agree on free enterprise and capitalism," King said. "The focus should be on that and not on the esoteric aspects of objectivism."
Double Exposure
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it owns part of the $24 million loan to the photographer Annie Leibovitz that led to the breach-of-contract lawsuit she faces, and offered to work with her to "resolve her financing needs."
Leibovitz faces a complaint filed by another creditor for the loan, Art Capital Group, a New York company that lends using art as collateral. Art Capital claims she breached an agreement that allows the company to sell the photographs and real estate she had pledged to back the sum.
"We are deeply troubled by recent developments concerning Annie Leibovitz and Art Capital," said Andrea Raphael, Goldman spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement. "We have proposed to Art Capital that we terminate the current loan agreement with their affiliate so that we can work directly with Ms. Leibovitz."
Art Capital spokesman Montieth Illingworth denied such a proposal has been made.
