This Week In Blunders – Aug. 31-Sept. 6
“I’m not a regular smoker of weed. I don’t find that it is very good for productivity.” – Elon Musk.
When Elon Musk famously smoked a doobie on The Joe Rogan Experience in 2018, Tesla stock took a dip as investors reacted to his reckless judgement.
NASA ordered a safety review of SpaceX. And the media speculated about what the U.S. Air Force might do since it prohibits cannabis use for all contractors. It turns out smoking weed on camera with a media provocateur is a stupid thing for any CEO to do.
But Musk not only kept his job, he’s now about to be handed a trillion-dollar pay package, or so Tesla’s board proposed on Friday. (That’s not a typo. It’s TRILLION with a T.)
This is not how it works in Japan where the corporate culture does not venerate rule-breaking dumbassery.
On Monday, Takeshi Niinami, the CEO and chairman of Suntory Holdings, resigned as Japanese police investigate his purchase of a supplement suspected to contain marijuana’s most magical ingredient, THC.
Niinami said he believed he was buying a product containing CBD, another cannabis compound that is legal in Japan and commonly used to treat everything from pain and anxiety to sleeplessness.
So far, authorities have provided zero proof of this alleged crime, even after raiding his residence, and Niinami insists he’s innocent. But Japan does not tolerate idiocy in the C-Suite, like we do here in the U.S. If you don’t know the difference between CBD and THC you are simply not fit to be CEO at a Japanese conglomerate.
“It was my carelessness that led to this situation when I purchased these supplements,” Niinami said at a press conference on Wednesday in Tokyo. “I apologize for the uproar it has caused.”
Suntory owns Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark. It is a multinational brewing and distilling company that has been peddling booze since 1899.
Its products have ruined more lives, caused more deaths, put more people behind bars, and been more of a global public menace than anyone could even hallucinate about marijuana.
But oh, the shame.
For now, Niinami remains chairman of Japan’s business lobbying group, Keizai Doyukai. He’s fluent in English, educated at Harvard Business School, has represented Japan at the World Economic Forum, and often gathers with top international business luminaries.
But this time he really messed up, and now he has to go.
He should have just downed a couple shots of whiskey.
Read More: The Biggest Business Blunders Of All Time
Mickey Caught Spying On Children
The Walt Disney Co. has agreed to pay $10 million for allegedly collecting personal data from children in YouTube videos, the Federal Trade Commission announced on Tuesday.
If you want to track little kids, and assault their little minds with brain-rotting advertising, you first have to notify their parents and obtain their consent under the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection ACT. Disney allegedly didn’t do this.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson and other commissioners said this in a statement:
“Disney is no ordinary company. It has made its mark on American society as the world’s leading creator of content for children. It describes itself as in the business of ‘dealing with children and emotions’ and ‘promot[ing] the happiness and well-being of kids and families.’ Given its carefully curated reputation, this alleged conduct by Disney would be particularly troubling.”
Mickey is apparently happy to pay the fine, move on, and hope everyone forgets this insidious corporate folly. As the nefarious little rodent has squeaked before:
“Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggety dog. Now we got ears, it’s time for cheers. Hot dog, hot dog, the problem’s solved. Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggety dog!”
Insufficient Funds
Wouldn’t you love to own part of an ATM network that charged people exorbitant fees to access their own money?
That was the pitch from Daryl F. Heller, 55, of Lititz, Penn., who ran several companies that operated automatic teller machines. But prosecutors say he used his investors like his own ATM network in a $770 million Ponzi scheme.
“The magnitude of the offense alleged by this indictment is enormous,” said U.S. Attorney David Metcalf. “Daryl Heller allegedly piled lie upon lie, in order to bilk thousands of victims of their hard-earned money.”
If time is money then ATMs are time machines. For Heller it could be up to 100 years in prison if he’s convicted on all charges.
Read More: 15 Tales Of Lost Ponzi Riches
Commrade Trump
None dare call President Donald Trump a socialist, but Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., came pretty close do doing just that on CNBC on Wednesday.
Paul took aim at Trump’s deal to take a 10% ownership stake in chipmaker Intel Corp., calling it “a step toward socialism.”
But it’s been more than just one step with the Trump administration quickly taking stakes in the means of production.
Deals include: Plans for a 15% of Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices microchip sales to China; a $400 million equity stake in rare earth miner MP Materials; and what Trump has called a “golden share” in U.S. Steel.
“I worry that the free market movement, the movement that was a big part of the Republican Party, is being diminished over time,” Rand said.
Diminished over time? He must have forgotten what is dad, former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, once said: “Capitalism should not be condemned, since we haven't had capitalism.”
It all starts with a Nescafé
A quick update on Nestlé CEO Laurent Freixe who was fired for “an undisclosed romantic relationship with a subordinate” that violated its code of conduct – as Business Blunders highlighted on Tuesday.
The 63-year-old executive gets no severance package after nearly 40 years at the Swiss food giant and he loses a gig that paid around $13 million a year in total compensation.
Turns out, Freixe got away with his folly for a long time. His long-term mistress was reportedly a top Nestlé executive who allegedly caught him with another woman. She found him in in a Zurich hotel room with yet another Nestlé colleague.
Sounds like the Frenchman was treating the company’s workforce like a heart-shaped box of chocolates.
Freixe now tops the Blunder List of top executives who’ve lost their high-paying jobs, and their dignity, for inappropriate and undisclosed relationships.
He obviously wasn’t sampling Nestlé’s Smarties.
Don’t Miss These Blunders
Buffett’s Big Blunder At least the world's most-admired investor can admit he was horribly wrong about Kraft Heinz
The Chocolate Lover Nestlé CEO Laurent Freixe just joined a litany of top executives who've lost their jobs to love
The Apprentice Movie producer behind Trump biopic faces 300 years in prison for alleged scams of his own
The Biggest Business Blunders Of All Time And the costly lessons they left behind.
Timeshare Prison This week In Blunders – Aug. 17-23
Instant Ponzi – Just Add Water This Week In Blunders – Aug. 10-16
Doing That Shuffle A former JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs executive raised $4.3 million to start a blockchain gambling app. Then he allegedly blew his seed money in another online casino.
Kwon Don’t Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon never planned on failure. Now he's headed to prison after pleading guilty to a $40 billion crypto fraud.
Sub Moron This Week In Blunders – Aug. 3-9
Near Intelligence On Epstein Island This company tagged everyone who came and went to the infamous pedophile paradise. Now, its top executives are charged in an unrelated accounting fraud.
Stop Counting! Stop Counting! This Week In Blunders – 27- Aug. 2
The Gods Or Money? A new book, "The Almightier," pulls back the temple curtains and reveals what mankind really worships
Break It ‘Til You Make It Big money investors fell prey to a fashion industry fairy tale
Making A List, Checking It Twice The '30 Under 30 Curse' is an enduring embarrassment for business news publications
The Empress’s New Clothes Big money investors fell prey to a fashion industry fairy tale
Just Smile And Wave This Week In Blunders – July 13-19
Make The Competition Disappear A bid-rigging indictment calls foul on Tim Leiweke, a long-respected sports arena developer
Better To Be An Ex-CEO Than An X CEO This Week In Blunders – July 6-12
Slipping Away From Prosecutors The Volkswagen CEO who lorded over "Dieselgate" defers consequences with a happy accident
Wow. His company owns Jim Beam and Maker's Mark and let go over THC use? I can smell the hypocrisy all the way in FL!!!! Alcohol kills. It causes cancer. My late partner was an alcoholic and it was terrible, what it did to him.