CEOs Too Dumb to Use Computers
Late to the party today, but better late than never. I had a great spiel go up on AlterNet this morning. And it was good:
Fat Cat CEOs Too Dumb to Use Computers
Just what the hell is going on in the boardrooms of corporate America? From Angelo Mozilo's callous reply-button fuckup to chat-room lurks from execs at Burger King and Whole Foods, the nation is under attack by suits who make way too much money to know so little about how their computers work.
Let's start with Mozilo, whose Countrywide Financial Corporation has been one of the worst offenders in our housing meltdown, which is to say, our full-blown economic recession. The Calabasas, California-based lender's stock plummeted by 80 percent after it amassed nearly $100 billion in losses while servicing gamed loans and foreclosing on those who should have known better, had they only possessed enough common sense to spit out Countrywide's Kool-Aid. That was bad enough to swallow, until CEO Angelo Mozilo declared that, during this scam, he walked off with $1.9 million in salary, $20 million in performance-based awards and another $121 million in liquidated stock.
Thanks for playing, and fuck you very much.
But when it came to his computer, Mozilo couldn't buy a clue. After beleaguered homeowner Daniel Bailey Jr. sent the Countrywide CEO a form-letter email plea for a rate adjustment, a pissed-off but still filthy rich Mozilo hit the reply instead of the forward button and sent Bailey this message on Tuesday: "This is unbelievable. Most of these letters now have the same wording. Obviously they are being counseled by some other person or by the Internet. Disgusting."
A Los Angeles federal judge's recent ruling paved the way for a shareholder lawsuit against Mozilo and other Countrywide execs. The lender can add that black eye to its already packed list, which includes everything from a class-action suit alleging overtime violations to an outcry from homeowners impacted by Hurricane Katrina alleging broken promises.
But it wasn't the reply button that screwed Mozilo; no, that honor belongs to an online forum serviced by LoanSafe.org, whose form letter Bailey copied in his plea for leniency to Countrywide. Like any clever consumer, Bailey used the internet to his advantage and posted Mozilo's boneheaded response, which caught fire on LoanSafe and in the world at large shortly afterward. Any tween or teenager alive could have apprised Mozilo of the internet's power, especially to ruin those who underestimate that power... MORE @ ALTERNET
Fat Cat CEOs Too Dumb to Use ComputersJust what the hell is going on in the boardrooms of corporate America? From Angelo Mozilo's callous reply-button fuckup to chat-room lurks from execs at Burger King and Whole Foods, the nation is under attack by suits who make way too much money to know so little about how their computers work.
Let's start with Mozilo, whose Countrywide Financial Corporation has been one of the worst offenders in our housing meltdown, which is to say, our full-blown economic recession. The Calabasas, California-based lender's stock plummeted by 80 percent after it amassed nearly $100 billion in losses while servicing gamed loans and foreclosing on those who should have known better, had they only possessed enough common sense to spit out Countrywide's Kool-Aid. That was bad enough to swallow, until CEO Angelo Mozilo declared that, during this scam, he walked off with $1.9 million in salary, $20 million in performance-based awards and another $121 million in liquidated stock.
Thanks for playing, and fuck you very much.
But when it came to his computer, Mozilo couldn't buy a clue. After beleaguered homeowner Daniel Bailey Jr. sent the Countrywide CEO a form-letter email plea for a rate adjustment, a pissed-off but still filthy rich Mozilo hit the reply instead of the forward button and sent Bailey this message on Tuesday: "This is unbelievable. Most of these letters now have the same wording. Obviously they are being counseled by some other person or by the Internet. Disgusting."
A Los Angeles federal judge's recent ruling paved the way for a shareholder lawsuit against Mozilo and other Countrywide execs. The lender can add that black eye to its already packed list, which includes everything from a class-action suit alleging overtime violations to an outcry from homeowners impacted by Hurricane Katrina alleging broken promises.
But it wasn't the reply button that screwed Mozilo; no, that honor belongs to an online forum serviced by LoanSafe.org, whose form letter Bailey copied in his plea for leniency to Countrywide. Like any clever consumer, Bailey used the internet to his advantage and posted Mozilo's boneheaded response, which caught fire on LoanSafe and in the world at large shortly afterward. Any tween or teenager alive could have apprised Mozilo of the internet's power, especially to ruin those who underestimate that power... MORE @ ALTERNET
Labels: alternet, economy, journo, screw jobs
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