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> so why did he do it? This is the most interesting question, which the article doesn't answer.
by insickness 7y ago
> so why did he do it?
This is the most interesting question, which the article doesn't answer.
- mjw1007 7y agoHe'd made the same jokes in speeches several times before, and it had gone down well with the audience. Presumably he just didn't consider the possibility that the press would think it worth making a story out of.
- archgoon 7y agoInteresting; what was difference about this audience? Or was it just a slow news day this time?
- paulpauper 7y agoMy guess is way more ppl were in attendance and he doubled down on the joke
- mixmastamyk 7y agoA large gathering of business leaders with press attending + random chance.
- scandox 7y agoI read an article (in the 90s) that stated it was a slow news day. It was his sixth time making more or less the same speech.
- cmauniada 7y agoI don't get it. So he made these jokes infront of shareholders just for kicks? Why would someone even say this infront of anyone, I don't understand. I am starting to think he might have been under the influence.
- whatshisface 7y agoIn the distant past shareholder calls were not the synthetic fluff they are now, and I'm sure this guy's accident contributed a lot to the transition.
- rando444 7y agoIn the other article that is posted in this thread it mentions he was kicked out of grammar school at 15 for 'being too stupid'. Some people are just like that.
- dboreham 7y agoShareholders and customers are basically on the opposite sides of a trade. All public companies have this problem to some degree: they want to tell their shareholders "we figured out how to offload stuff that we buy cheap onto unsuspecting customers, thereby making more profit for you". Meanwhile they want to tell their customers "look how wonderful and high quality our products are". These days this problem is solved with code-speak that wall st people understand but which sounds relatively benign and boring to cuswif they happen to see it e.g. "margin expansion through input cost reduction".
- dennisgorelik 7y agoIt is an excellent point about "code-speak" as a tool to be open with experts without pissing off clueless customers.
- dennisgorelik 7y agoIt is a delicate balance between open conversations (that allow to build and maintain a clear internal mental model) vs propaganda (in order to improve public perception). Gerald Ratner made a wrong tradeoff in one case [too much openness and honesty for the audience that does NOT appreciate openness and honesty enough].
- kraftman 7y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xs6MTwMTbo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xs6MTwMTbo he explains the joke here.
- okl 7y agoMaybe he enjoyed bragging about his shrewd business practices.
- rcombine 7y agoHe didn't really "do" anything, he just spoke honestly. That's what he actually genuinely believed and how he and his company operated. The shock and awe is from the curtain being pulled back and the seedy underbelly of sales, marketing, and capitalism being exposed. Ratner just got complacent and forgot he was on a hot mic.
- catacombs 7y ago> This is the most interesting question, which the article doesn't answer. He called his company's product "crap" at a 6,000-person event. That seemed pretty straight forward to me.
- coybanana 7y agoIt's not necessarily the case that there's even some underlying reason. Though I agree, they should have touched on it in particular.
- amiga_500 7y agoHe inherited a business, took it down market, which was lucrative, but could have back-fired. Maybe he did it because he's not very smart?