How to Steal a Billion • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Steal a Billion

#11

Post by _jal » Wed, Nov 06, 2019, 4:30 PM UTC

asdfman123 wrote: post #6

logfromblammo wrote: post #2

I'd like to think that Adam Neumann will see some manner of ill effect for paying himself $1 billion of other people's money, while delivering negative value, but then reality comes crashing in to remind me that no, he won't. Consequences are for people who don't have a billion dollars.

I'm going to bet that he has several months of hard reflection about life and maybe write a book about it. Maybe he'll try to pull a Steve Jobs and try a few new companies to redeem himself. But you know, the next few years of his life are going to be mildly unpleasant, and we shouldn't forget about the emotional impact about that. Maybe he'll have a very public come-to-Jesus moment that will be cathartic for everyon…

Empathy is essential. And his con was a truly remarkable con during a run of remarkable cons, which attracts attention. But I have trouble sparing much sympathy for someone who has 10 digits to tide them over while they figure out what's next.

If you're having trouble finding sympathetic targets in this fiasco, mayhap spare a thought to the several emotions employees whose options are underwater felt when they heard about their Superhero CEO's cash out.

Re: How to Steal a Billion

#12

Post by asdfman123 » Wed, Nov 06, 2019, 4:30 PM UTC

lordnacho wrote: post #10

asdfman123 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm going to bet that he has several months of hard reflection about life and maybe write a book about it. Maybe he'll try to pull a Steve Jobs and try a few new companies to redeem himself. But you know, the next few years of his life are going to be mildly unpleasant, and we shouldn't forget about the emotional impact about that. Maybe he'll have a very public come-to-Jesus moment that will be cathartic for everyon…

I think this is overly optimistic, what you're saying. What's he gonna lose? Friends who invested with him? He can buy new ones. Feel bad? You can literally hire a whole team of therapists for life. He can sit in his mansions and not be in the public eye forever, it's not like being in the public eye is some sort of requirement for living. Heck, he might even find a new following among people who want to emulate how…

I'm intentionally being tongue in cheek. Unless he's a total sociopath (which I don't think he is) he's probably going to suffer mild blowback, the kind of blowback and shitty feelings us mortals feel when we've been ousted from a job.

But it's the kind of disappointment and anger that you get over in a few months.

The only difference is he'll have a billion dollars and the ability to do whatever in life he wants.

If you were in his shoes, would you go back and do things any differently?

Re: How to Steal a Billion

#13

Post by CptFribble » Wed, Nov 06, 2019, 4:32 PM UTC

That's the funny thing about Billions-with-a-b: normal thinking about money and value just doesn't work IMO.

The Vision Fund is going to lose ~$19 billion. But Masa Son still controls over $80 billion. That's more wealth and power than almost any human being will ever have in history, ever.

At that point the numbers don't even matter. Maybe Neumann took Masa Son for $50 billion. Who cares? A person can live in the USA for their whole lives without working on as little as $3-5 million. Throwing billions around like this, especially when it's digital/paper money in the form of stocks and big corporate deals, really puts the absurdity sprinkles on top of this whole turd bowl.

It's this kind of thing that makes people lose confidence in the system. Most people out here are sweating medical bills in the low $10,000's, while the news is talking about billions being gained and lost in the span of a few weeks - so fast it makes you wonder if that amount of wealth really even existed in the first place.

How much has to be "lost" between digital transactions before the numbers become completely meaningless? A trillion? A quadrillion?

Re: How to Steal a Billion

#14

Post by hashberry » Wed, Nov 06, 2019, 4:32 PM UTC

WeWork/Uber/Airbnb... it's interesting how WeWork is classified as tech IPO next to these (e.g. Softbank used its "technology fund" to invest in WeWork). How did this happen? Isn't it an obvious real estate company? Is it because WeWork appealed to tech startups and remote workers?

Re: How to Steal a Billion

#15

Post by logfromblammo » Wed, Nov 06, 2019, 4:34 PM UTC

asdfman123 wrote: post #6

logfromblammo wrote: post #2

I'd like to think that Adam Neumann will see some manner of ill effect for paying himself $1 billion of other people's money, while delivering negative value, but then reality comes crashing in to remind me that no, he won't. Consequences are for people who don't have a billion dollars.

I'm going to bet that he has several months of hard reflection about life and maybe write a book about it. Maybe he'll try to pull a Steve Jobs and try a few new companies to redeem himself. But you know, the next few years of his life are going to be mildly unpleasant, and we shouldn't forget about the emotional impact about that. Maybe he'll have a very public come-to-Jesus moment that will be cathartic for everyon…

Not everyone experiences conscience in the same way. He might not even have one to torment him in his moments of solitude.

And when you say "mildly unpleasant", I can only assume you mean that for the rest of his life, his sole source of genuine unpleasantness will be from his own psyche. Because he'll be worth a billion dollars. And while money can't buy happiness, it can remove every last speck of annoyance, peeve, and inferior market option.

This failure will be easier for him than for most other people who fail far less spectacularly.

Even if a thousand people make it their life's mission to persecute him at every moment of the day, he still has approximately a billion dollars more than all of them put together. All he really has to worry about is avoiding Saudi-controlled buildings and territories for the rest of his life.

Re: How to Steal a Billion

#16

Post by ergothus » Wed, Nov 06, 2019, 4:34 PM UTC

asdfman123 wrote: post #6

logfromblammo wrote: post #2

I'd like to think that Adam Neumann will see some manner of ill effect for paying himself $1 billion of other people's money, while delivering negative value, but then reality comes crashing in to remind me that no, he won't. Consequences are for people who don't have a billion dollars.

I'm going to bet that he has several months of hard reflection about life and maybe write a book about it. Maybe he'll try to pull a Steve Jobs and try a few new companies to redeem himself. But you know, the next few years of his life are going to be mildly unpleasant, and we shouldn't forget about the emotional impact about that. Maybe he'll have a very public come-to-Jesus moment that will be cathartic for everyon…

> But either way, this failure isn't going to be easy for him. He's going to feel several emotions and not all of them will be pleasant.

Honest question: do you think it will be harder for him than for the rest of us that have to deal with failure and yet have to chase jobs and deal with the pressures that come from not being wealthy?

Given the level of sociopathy likely required to get where he is at, I sincerely doubt it. I cant assume he feels as I would in thus situation because I literally couldn't GET into his situation.

Re: How to Steal a Billion

#17

Post by simonh » Wed, Nov 06, 2019, 4:37 PM UTC

logfromblammo wrote: post #2

I'd like to think that Adam Neumann will see some manner of ill effect for paying himself $1 billion of other people's money, while delivering negative value, but then reality comes crashing in to remind me that no, he won't. Consequences are for people who don't have a billion dollars.

The thing to remember is, this all happened in the open. The people paying him all this money knew exactly what they were doing, know exactly what he was doing and even encouraged him in doing it. I for one will not be shedding any tears for Softbank's losses. Neumann may be a bit of a jerk, if the stories about him are true, but good luck to the guy. It’s not as though he hurt anybody.

Re: How to Steal a Billion

#18

Post by fnord77 » Wed, Nov 06, 2019, 4:39 PM UTC

CptFribble wrote: post #13

That's the funny thing about Billions-with-a-b: normal thinking about money and value just doesn't work IMO. The Vision Fund is going to lose ~$19 billion. But Masa Son still controls over $80 billion. That's more wealth and power than almost any human being will ever have in history, ever. At that point the numbers don't even matter. Maybe Neumann took Masa Son for $50 billion. Who cares? A person can live in the US…

not to mention the amount of political influence billions can buy.

billionaires are incompatible with democracy

Re: How to Steal a Billion

#19

Post by Invictus0 » Wed, Nov 06, 2019, 4:46 PM UTC

CptFribble wrote: post #13

That's the funny thing about Billions-with-a-b: normal thinking about money and value just doesn't work IMO. The Vision Fund is going to lose ~$19 billion. But Masa Son still controls over $80 billion. That's more wealth and power than almost any human being will ever have in history, ever. At that point the numbers don't even matter. Maybe Neumann took Masa Son for $50 billion. Who cares? A person can live in the US…

Gates, Arnault, and Bezos each have had more than 100B, although not liquid.

Re: How to Steal a Billion

#20

Post by JohnFen » Wed, Nov 06, 2019, 4:47 PM UTC

hashberry wrote: post #14

WeWork/Uber/Airbnb... it's interesting how WeWork is classified as tech IPO next to these (e.g. Softbank used its "technology fund" to invest in WeWork). How did this happen? Isn't it an obvious real estate company? Is it because WeWork appealed to tech startups and remote workers?

According to Masayoshi, they're a tech company because they use the internet.