• The Fifth (unregistered)

    Forth!

    And who wouldn't be worried to see the CEO on day three?

  • (cs)

    For the life of me, I cannot picture a smile disappearing into one's chin, no matter how many of them you have. Is this some sort of mutant human anatomy that only Alex knows about?

  • Stark (unregistered) in reply to The Fifth
    The Fifth:
    Forth!

    And who wouldn't be worried to see the CEO on day three?

    I worked at a shop so small the CEO interviewed me. On day one the CEO's son trained me. What worried me was 40 marketing and sales staff with 1 senior developer and 2 junior developers consisting of me and a college friend.

  • (cs)

    Looks to me like Howard Thurstone IV got "Four'd" right into jail.

  • bob (unregistered)

    Sounds like a company I used to work for....

  • boog (unregistered)

    I'm pretty sure I would have strangled him after the incident with the $20.

  • GM (unregistered)

    Its spelt "Ford".

  • Someone (unregistered) in reply to Coyne
    Coyne:
    Looks to me like Howard Thurstone IV got "Four'd" right into jail.
    No, no, he will properly 'four'd' once he's there...
  • (cs)

    Corrupt CEO reminds me of Satyam Computers.

  • Erik (unregistered)

    Never, ever, ever loan money to someone who makes a lot more than you do. That $20 is a lot of money to you, so you remember it and obsess over it. To them, though, $20 is nothing, so they forget about it and get irritated when someone else tries to make it a big deal.

    Also, don't lend money to anyone who never carries cash, because they'll never be carrying the cash to pay you back with.

    In fact, never lend any money to anyone. If you feel compelled to do so, treat it as a gift and don't expect to be paid back. That way, if they do actually pay you back, it's a pleasant surprise rather.

  • GM is Right, Buddy (unregistered) in reply to GM
    GM:
    Its spelt "Ford".
    Did anyone else picture Calvin urinating on the Ford symbol?
  • (cs)

    One day I watch TV Serial called "IT CROWD". CEO of Renahm Industry borrow 20 quid note from IT Staff. He never return it.

    Sidenote: I thought currency of UK is pound. What's this quid business? Why don't you call it a buck like rest of the world?

  • frits (unregistered) in reply to GM is Right, Buddy
    GM is Right:
    GM:
    Its spelt "Ford".
    Did anyone else picture Calvin urinating on the Ford symbol?
    Who hasn't pictured something like this?
  • (cs)
    The Article:
    “I don’t, but I’m glad you’re here,” Four said with a sense of urgency, “I had a special project come up that I need you to take care of. Actually, we better leave now.”

    I'm disappointed this didn't lead to hookers and blow, Sheen-style.

  • Someguy (unregistered)

    Hmm... all the small side projects, that pop up like mushrooms after the rain, sound a lot like my day to day surprises... Is this article a sign? :D I should look for the IRS agents popping in at any time.

  • Bob (unregistered) in reply to Nagesh
    Nagesh:
    One day I watch TV Serial called "IT CROWD". CEO of Renahm Industry borrow 20 quid note from IT Staff. He never return it.

    Sidenote: I thought currency of UK is pound. What's this quid business? Why don't you call it a buck like rest of the world?

    Is this a troll? The English were using quid a few hundred years before the Americans started using buck. The fact that they're slang for two different currencies in two different countries also has some bearing here...

  • Bobbo (unregistered) in reply to Nagesh
    Nagesh:
    One day I watch TV Serial called "IT CROWD". CEO of Renahm Industry borrow 20 quid note from IT Staff. He never return it.

    Sidenote: I thought currency of UK is pound. What's this quid business? Why don't you call it a buck like rest of the world?

    Quid is to pound, as buck is to dollar.

    p.s. I've yet to hear a Euro referred to as a buck.

  • (cs) in reply to Bobbo

    Thanks. It is surprise, since we use the term "Buck" in India. I have never heard the term "quid", except for that series. James Bond never use "quid" either.

  • (cs)

    The company was Adelphia Communications, right?

    __ Note from Alex: No... nor was it Tyco, or any other large, public company that would have made national headlines. It was a small company (~200 employees) that was shut down as a result of an IRS raid... which, from my research, is not that uncommon. Just search for "IRS raid" or "IRS Agent" to find dozens of small business owners in similar - as in PMITA-prison - trouble. It only seems to make the news on a slow day.

  • (cs) in reply to Bob

    TRUE WTF is "unregistered person" calling me a Troll.

  • TG Fan (unregistered) in reply to Nagesh

    James Bond may not have used the term quid but James May sure does.

  • flyboyfred (unregistered) in reply to GM is Right, Buddy
    GM is Right:
    GM:
    Its spelt "Ford".
    Did anyone else picture Calvin urinating on the Ford symbol?

    I think he was actually peeing vodka.

  • Someone who can't be bothered to login from work (unregistered) in reply to Nagesh
    Nagesh:
    Thanks. It is surprise, since we use the term "Buck" in India. I have never heard the term "quid", except for that series. James Bond never use "quid" either.

    Australians used to use the term "quid" to refer to the Australian Pound as well.

    James Bond is unlikely to use the slang "quid", precisely because it's slang.

  • unregistered person (unregistered) in reply to Nagesh
    Nagesh:
    TRUE WTF is "unregistered person" calling me a Troll.
    TRWTF is you thinking anyone believes "Nagesh" to be any more credible than "unregistered person".
  • Bobbo (unregistered) in reply to Nagesh
    Nagesh:
    Thanks. It is surprise, since we use the term "Buck" in India. I have never heard the term "quid", except for that series. James Bond never use "quid" either.

    Harry Potter plays quidditch, does this count?

  • Found On Road Dead (unregistered) in reply to flyboyfred
    flyboyfred:
    GM is Right:
    GM:
    Its spelt "Ford".
    Did anyone else picture Calvin urinating on the Ford symbol?

    I think he was actually peeing vodka.

    He sure is. It has a moderately astringent bite, but is otherwise delicious. I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

  • Frankie (unregistered) in reply to frits

    Either it's a different company or WTF added a whole lot of fiction regarding "Four" and his family (in which case Alex should be smacked; I only want true stories here).

    CAPTCHA: sagaciter. One who acts sagaciously, or one who uses legendary epics as reference material?

  • Dank (unregistered)

    I actually remember this story in the news a few years ago, right down to the statue peeing vodka detail. I don't know if there's some TDWTF policy protecting the identity of the guilty, but you can google it if you want to know Thurstone's real name.

  • Pete (unregistered)

    Anyone else really want to know what he did to his Dad and brothers to take the company from them?

  • (cs) in reply to Pete

    How does that concern anyone?

  • fake frits 37 (unregistered) in reply to Nagesh
    Nagesh:
    Thanks. It is surprise, since we use the term "Buck" in India. I have never heard the term "quid", except for that series. James Bond never use "quid" either.

    That's because he worked for MI6 not MI5...

  • (cs) in reply to fake frits 37
    fake frits 37:
    Nagesh:
    Thanks. It is surprise, since we use the term "Buck" in India. I have never heard the term "quid", except for that series. James Bond never use "quid" either.

    That's because he worked for MI6 not MI5...

    Ok!

  • Jon (unregistered)

    If the CEO said he could do your job as a database programmer, tell him to code review the simplest SQL statement.

    SELECT TWENTY_DOLLARS FROM DEADBEAT_CEO;

  • (cs)

    How fat was he? I mean, the recommended weight limit of driver plus passenger in my Porsche is like 475 lbs.

  • NoAstronomer (unregistered)

    I loaned my boss 20 pounds once. That was 1985. Never saw him again. He got fired over the phone. It had to be that way - he was almost never in the office. I'm starting to think my 20 quid is gone.

  • anon (unregistered)

    TO all the people claiming they know what this is or that it's not accurate, I would pretty much guarantee that this is NOT about Tyco and the statue peeing vodka detail was just borrowed from that story during the anonymization of the submission. None of the other details come close to matching, and Kozlowski was not the type of CEO in the story (other than the embezzling) to the extent that it fundamentally could not have happened.

  • (cs) in reply to Dank
    Dank:
    I actually remember this story in the news a few years ago, right down to the statue peeing vodka detail. I don't know if there's some TDWTF policy protecting the identity of the guilty, but you can google it if you want to know Thurstone's real name.

    OK, I know where that detail was inspired:

    Wikipedia:
    The extravagant party, held on the Italian island of Sardinia, featured an ice sculpture of the Statue of David urinating Stolichnaya vodka. This birthday bash was disguised as a shareholder meeting in order to get corporate funding. In a camcorder video, name redacted states that this party will bring out a company redacted core competency - the ability to party hard. Subsequently, this shareholder meeting/birthday party became known as the comapny redacted Roman Orgy.

    Personally, I find the text in bold even funnier.

  • Derp (unregistered)

    Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

    Doesn't matter if it's your CEO or your best friend or your mother. If you "loan" money to somebody you'll be happier treating it as a gift, and forgetting about it, or just don't lend money at all.

    Now if only I could listen to my own advice...

  • ideo (unregistered) in reply to Jon
    Jon:
    If the CEO said he could do your job as a database programmer, tell him to code review the simplest SQL statement.

    SELECT TWENTY_DOLLARS FROM DEADBEAT_CEO;

    I can't decide whether you're a troll or an idiot. Most of the simplest examples in DBLand is the "employee" table example. It makes no sense to create a new table for every individual in the company. And if you're going to make $20 a stored amount, store a value in that field so that amount can be variable.

    I think you need to look through your portfolio and submit a confession to Alex.

  • Migala (unregistered) in reply to NoAstronomer
    NoAstronomer:
    I loaned my boss 20 pounds once. That was 1985. Never saw him again. He got fired over the phone. It had to be that way - he was almost never in the office. I'm starting to think my 20 quid is gone.

    But wasn't it worth it?

  • Vjg (unregistered)

    I'm reminded of one of my rules to live by.

    If you loan someone $20 and you never see them again, consider it a good investment.

  • Frankie (unregistered) in reply to anon
    anon:
    TO all the people claiming they know what this is or that it's not accurate, I would pretty much guarantee that this is NOT about Tyco and the statue peeing vodka detail was just borrowed from that story during the anonymization of the submission. None of the other details come close to matching, and Kozlowski was not the type of CEO in the story (other than the embezzling) to the extent that it fundamentally could not have happened.

    Right, the fountain from Tyco, but Kozlowski is not "Four".

    The key detail is the dynasty of bosses (2+ generations), the last of whom used the company as a feeding trough. Kozlowski worked his way up Tyco, and Adelphia was embezzled by its founder. Neither one fits.

    Looking more like TRWTF is that there is no "real" WTF here; it's a fake story.

  • usitas (unregistered) in reply to Frankie
    Frankie:
    Right, the fountain from Tyco, but Kozlowski is not "Four".

    The key detail is the dynasty of bosses (2+ generations), the last of whom used the company as a feeding trough. Kozlowski worked his way up Tyco, and Adelphia was embezzled by its founder. Neither one fits.

    Looking more like TRWTF is that there is no "real" WTF here; it's a fake story.

    Whoosh!

    What's that? That's the sound your palm makes right before it hits your face!

    Did you ever consider the fact, that...

    ...maybe the fake detail was...

    ... the fountain?

    SMACK!!!

  • (cs)

    This story is why there should be an estate tax. People build great companies only to leave them to their spoilt, half-retarded children to squander.

  • (cs) in reply to Nagesh
    Nagesh:
    TRUE WTF is "unregistered person" calling me a Troll.
    But you ARE a troll. As anyone knows who saw your Sidebar post.
  • Ben (unregistered) in reply to Salami
    Salami:
    This story is why there should be an estate tax. People build great companies only to leave them to their spoilt, half-retarded children to squander.

    So your solution to the problem that half-retarded children might squander the money is to send it all to the government to guarantee it gets squandered by fully-retarded bureaucrats.

    Progress!

  • trwtf (unregistered) in reply to unregistered person
    unregistered person:
    Nagesh:
    TRUE WTF is "unregistered person" calling me a Troll.
    TRWTF is you thinking anyone believes "Nagesh" to be any more credible than "unregistered person".
    We've seen trolling from Nagesh plenty of times in his short time here so I have far more faith in "unregistered person" than Nagesh. I'm pretty sure he only registered the name "Nagesh" to troll some poor Indian guy who showed up here once.
  • Frankie (unregistered) in reply to usitas
    usitas:
    Whoosh! Did you ever consider the fact, that... ...maybe the fake detail was... ... the fountain?
    WHOOSH! Comprehension fail on your part.

    A more intelligent reading of my post would show that I consider the fountain an extraneous flourish. The crucial detail is the family empire with a corrupt scion. If that can't be found, then the whole story is a fictional mashup.

  • awacs (unregistered) in reply to Salami

    ...you say that like it's a bad thing.

  • (cs) in reply to Ben
    Ben:
    Salami:
    This story is why there should be an estate tax. People build great companies only to leave them to their spoilt, half-retarded children to squander.

    So your solution to the problem that half-retarded children might squander the money is to send it all to the government to guarantee it gets squandered by fully-retarded bureaucrats.

    Progress!

    Why is it progress when there already is an estate tax? People want to get rid of it, but I think it serves a purpose.

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