Theresa May, Rihanna LVMH, MBA Pay Gap: Broadsheet January 18

EVERYONE'S TALKING

• Theresa takes her time. There are working weekends, and then there is the task Theresa May has over the next few days. After Parliament’s historic rejection of her Brexit bill on Tuesday—the most lopsided loss suffered by any British government ever—the wounded prime minister has until Monday to offer a Plan B.

The drubbing of May’s Brexit blueprint is a rather clear sign that May should, essentially, go back to the drawing board. Tweaking her bill to eke out a few more ‘ayes’ would still leave her well short of approval. The moment calls for boldness—make your mark, May!—but that is, by no means, what the prime minister is known for.

After her defeat and barely surviving a no-confidence vote, May told lawmakers they’d “made it clear what they don’t want.” Now it's time for “all [to] work constructively together to set out what Parliament does want.”

But since then, as May has met with opposition party leaders, she’s refused to budge on any of their demands. Rivals are asking for a second referendum on Brexit and an extension of Britain’s March 29 deadline for leaving the EU. May so far has stood firm against both options. She's also rejected a call for a more permanent customs union between the U.K. And EU. A meeting with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is not yet on May’s agenda since he wants her to rule out a no-deal Brexit—another point where May isn’t wavering.

It’s hard to see how a radically new deal—one with the potential to pass Parliament—emerges from this muck. But the one weapon May wields is time, or rather, an urgent lack of it. And in refusing to push back the Brexit deadline, that's something she is willing to brandish boldly. The Plan B she puts forward on Monday won’t get a Parliamentary vote until Jan. 29—a mere two months before the U.K.’s divorce date.

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

• Let it go, Les. Les Moonves will pursue arbitration with CBS to receive his $120 million in severance money. (A refresher: CBS found he was fired as CEO for cause, because of sexual assault and attempting to block the network's investigation of it, meaning it can withhold the severance agreed upon in his contract.)  Wall Street Journal

• House of Fenty. Rihanna is reportedly in talks to launch her own luxury fashion house with none other than LVMH. The potential new venture would be LVMH's first brand-new house since 1987. WWD

• The MBA effect. When men and women enter MBA programs, they have a gender pay gap of about 3%. But five years after graduation the gap widens to 28%. Women with MBAs saw their salaries rise 63% after graduation to an average of $152,806, while men got a 76% boost to an average of $211,800. Financial Times

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: April Underwood  leaves Slack to focus on investing full time with #Angels; the company's new chief product officer is Google's Tamar Yehoshua. Debbie Messemer  joins the board of PayPal, making half of PayPal's board women and people of color. TrailRunner International hires CNN's Kelly Wallace as managing director. Apple and PayPal vet Bora Chung joins Bill.com as SVP of product. Anne Bulford, the first female deputy director-general of the BBC and a rumored contender for the broadcaster's top job, is leaving her role. Julie Souza joins Wheelhouse Entertainment as COO. Michele Nadelman joins Warner Bros. Records as CFO.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

• Fake news. If you ever saw @womenforcohen floating around Twitter and didn't quite believe it, well, you were right. Michael Cohen paid for a Twitter account that called him "handsome" and a "stud" during the 2016 presidential race.  Washington Post

• UN-Too. One-third of UN staffers say they have experienced sexual harassment in the past two years. Respondents to a survey of UN workers at locations around the world reported being told offensive sexual stories or jokes, while others reported other kinds of harassment. Associated Press

• Shutdown side effect. As the government shutdown drags on, federal workers are turning to food banks, and many can't afford another necessity: diapers. "I can’t not change them. They can’t survive like that," one corrections officer going without pay says.  Huffington Post

• What happened to Maria? Maria Bartiromo has gone from the superstar of CNBC and financial television news to one of the strongest pro-Trump voices of many on Fox News. If you want to know how that happened, this is the story: Institutional Investor

Today's Broadsheet was produced by Emma Hinchliffe. Share it with a friend. Looking for previous Broadsheets? Click here.

ON MY RADAR

Rebecca Traister: Don't give up on the Women's March  The Cut

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitter tutorial for Congress is a lesson in workplace generosity  Quartz

The Rent the Runway coat unnerving men everywhere  The Cut

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