4 ms·

"proceed with whatever budget he needed to pursue the facts in this matter" That's the richest guy in the world saying "I don't give a XXXX what it costs, find

"proceed with whatever budget he needed to pursue the facts in this matter" That's the richest guy in the world saying "I don't give a XXXX what it costs, find out who did it." It's also the moment in your life when, if you get the result that guys wants, he'll be glad to write you a cheque for $20,000,000 and will be happy to do so and he won't be interested in why the number is that high.

Pharmakon 8y ago
That gave me chills, and the phrase, If you’re going to shoot the king, you’d better be goddamned sure you’re going to kill him flashed through my mind. Well, they missed spectacularly, and now the man who has a rocket company for fun is clearly pissed.
- exolymph 8y ago
  You come at the king, you best not miss. Also, never take notes on a criminal fucking conspiracy ;P
  - Pharmakon 8y ago
    I think Omar, Stringer and Machiavelli would have gotten along on some level. "Upon this, one has to remark that men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge." -Machiavelli
    - mcguire 8y ago
      If you're going to do unto others,do unto them hard enough that they cannot return the favor.
  - weston 8y ago
    It’s amazing how many people in Trump’s inner circle love quoting mob movies, calling people “rats” and “stoolies” but can’t seem to get down even the basics of being a half-decent criminal. I mean, Roger Stone literally told people to lie to Congress via an email. One can quote mob movies all day but that doesn’t make them a smart criminal.
    - Jgrubb 8y ago
      I mean, they've lived in an era when being a white collar criminal is basically without legal penalty (as long as you're a white guy). It's really no wonder so many of them are so completely stupid, they would've had nothing to fear if their guy hadn't gotten himself elected.
      - rhizome 8y ago
        Said another way, the underprosecution of white-collar crime provides an advantage to career criminals. Go where the cops ain't.
    - ghostbrainalpha 8y ago
      There is a good reason for this. Real criminals don't aspire to be criminals... they just are, for whatever reason, necessity or lack of certain morals. People who idolize criminals show an entirely different character defect, one that is in opposition to being productive in any task criminal or otherwise.
    - jjeaff 8y ago
      I don't even think mobsters tend to be that smart. The most vile humans, most willing to kill their competition first just naturally rise to the top.
  - pradn 8y ago
    Random but sorta relevant: In the video game Morrowind, there's a king who wears the best ring in the game - it provides constant life and stamina regeneration. The only way to take it is to kill him. But you better be prepared to fight a room full of very powerful guards. You better be prepared when you go at him.
- vishnugupta 8y ago
  Indeed! Even I was quite fascinated by that phrase. I really wonder if AMI folks did any what-if analysis before shooting off those e-mails. At least the best-case and worst-case scenarios if not exploring all possible branches. I mean come on, you are literally taking on the richest person on earth and didn't even evaluate implications!? Just to belabor the point, he's not only the richest person right now, he's among the top 15[1] wealthiest persons of human civilization. And you are threatening him with, what, a bunch of nudish images and adult text messages!? > and now the man who has a rocket company for fun is clearly pissed. This had me laughing for a long time!! [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_historical_figures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_historical_... Edit: Added wikipedia reference.
  - Symmetry 8y ago
    This feels like they've similarly extorted many people before this and had gotten lazy, forgetting to keep doing that sort of analysis.
jdietrich 8y ago
I'm getting strong vibes of Thiel and Gawker here. Attempting to intimidate a billionaire is generally a poor decision.
- api 8y ago
  This is worse than Gawker outing Thiel as gay. In this case they're attempting blackmail ahead of time, which may be a crime.
  - matt4077 8y ago
    It’s generally not blackmail to threaten someone with some action that, by itself, is legal. See, for example, the many civil settlements where rich people stop the people they raped from going to the police. And I’m unsure what the status is on publishing salacious private photos. Sure, there is a copyright issue. But that’s a civil matter, not criminal. If it were a crime, it really wouldn’t be much of a threat because they’d be unlikely to follow through, would they? Edit: there is one federal law where threatening embarrassment is enough, but that requires a demand for money or property, which this is explicitly not. And because the downvotes are already rolling in: Note that I find this just as abhorrent as you do, and that sexploitation should absolutely be a crime. But the legal situation unfortunately is not at all as clear as the moral one. And the replies below are mostly embarrassing in that nobody even seems to have a clue on the difference between civil and criminal law. Carry on then...
    - jlmorton 8y ago
      That's not true at all. > Blackmail is the crime of threatening to reveal embarrassing, disgraceful or damaging information about a person to the public, family, spouse or associates unless money is paid to purchase silence. It is a form of extortion. Because the information is usually substantially true, it is not revealing the information that is criminal, but demanding money to withhold it. https://definitions.uslegal.com/b/blackmail/ https://definitions.uslegal.com/b/blackmail/
      - 8y ago

Pharmakon 8y ago

That gave me chills, and the phrase, If you’re going to shoot the king, you’d better be goddamned sure you’re going to kill him flashed through my mind. Well, they missed spectacularly, and now the man who has a rocket company for fun is clearly pissed.

exolymph 8y ago
You come at the king, you best not miss. Also, never take notes on a criminal fucking conspiracy ;P
- Pharmakon 8y ago
  I think Omar, Stringer and Machiavelli would have gotten along on some level. "Upon this, one has to remark that men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge." -Machiavelli
  - mcguire 8y ago
    If you're going to do unto others,do unto them hard enough that they cannot return the favor.
- weston 8y ago
  It’s amazing how many people in Trump’s inner circle love quoting mob movies, calling people “rats” and “stoolies” but can’t seem to get down even the basics of being a half-decent criminal. I mean, Roger Stone literally told people to lie to Congress via an email. One can quote mob movies all day but that doesn’t make them a smart criminal.
  - Jgrubb 8y ago
    I mean, they've lived in an era when being a white collar criminal is basically without legal penalty (as long as you're a white guy). It's really no wonder so many of them are so completely stupid, they would've had nothing to fear if their guy hadn't gotten himself elected.
    - rhizome 8y ago
      Said another way, the underprosecution of white-collar crime provides an advantage to career criminals. Go where the cops ain't.
  - ghostbrainalpha 8y ago
    There is a good reason for this. Real criminals don't aspire to be criminals... they just are, for whatever reason, necessity or lack of certain morals. People who idolize criminals show an entirely different character defect, one that is in opposition to being productive in any task criminal or otherwise.
  - jjeaff 8y ago
    I don't even think mobsters tend to be that smart. The most vile humans, most willing to kill their competition first just naturally rise to the top.
- pradn 8y ago
  Random but sorta relevant: In the video game Morrowind, there's a king who wears the best ring in the game - it provides constant life and stamina regeneration. The only way to take it is to kill him. But you better be prepared to fight a room full of very powerful guards. You better be prepared when you go at him.
vishnugupta 8y ago
Indeed! Even I was quite fascinated by that phrase. I really wonder if AMI folks did any what-if analysis before shooting off those e-mails. At least the best-case and worst-case scenarios if not exploring all possible branches. I mean come on, you are literally taking on the richest person on earth and didn't even evaluate implications!? Just to belabor the point, he's not only the richest person right now, he's among the top 15[1] wealthiest persons of human civilization. And you are threatening him with, what, a bunch of nudish images and adult text messages!? > and now the man who has a rocket company for fun is clearly pissed. This had me laughing for a long time!! [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_historical_figures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_historical_... Edit: Added wikipedia reference.
- Symmetry 8y ago
  This feels like they've similarly extorted many people before this and had gotten lazy, forgetting to keep doing that sort of analysis.

jdietrich 8y ago

I'm getting strong vibes of Thiel and Gawker here. Attempting to intimidate a billionaire is generally a poor decision.

api 8y ago
This is worse than Gawker outing Thiel as gay. In this case they're attempting blackmail ahead of time, which may be a crime.
- matt4077 8y ago
  It’s generally not blackmail to threaten someone with some action that, by itself, is legal. See, for example, the many civil settlements where rich people stop the people they raped from going to the police. And I’m unsure what the status is on publishing salacious private photos. Sure, there is a copyright issue. But that’s a civil matter, not criminal. If it were a crime, it really wouldn’t be much of a threat because they’d be unlikely to follow through, would they? Edit: there is one federal law where threatening embarrassment is enough, but that requires a demand for money or property, which this is explicitly not. And because the downvotes are already rolling in: Note that I find this just as abhorrent as you do, and that sexploitation should absolutely be a crime. But the legal situation unfortunately is not at all as clear as the moral one. And the replies below are mostly embarrassing in that nobody even seems to have a clue on the difference between civil and criminal law. Carry on then...
  - jlmorton 8y ago
    That's not true at all. > Blackmail is the crime of threatening to reveal embarrassing, disgraceful or damaging information about a person to the public, family, spouse or associates unless money is paid to purchase silence. It is a form of extortion. Because the information is usually substantially true, it is not revealing the information that is criminal, but demanding money to withhold it. https://definitions.uslegal.com/b/blackmail/ https://definitions.uslegal.com/b/blackmail/
    - 8y ago