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It’s been quite hilarious for me watching this saga unfold. All I needed to hear was that this man literally took out loans from WeWork and used the proceeds of

It’s been quite hilarious for me watching this saga unfold. All I needed to hear was that this man literally took out loans from WeWork and used the proceeds of the loans to purchase real estate that he then leased back to WeWork. Lol!

DrAwdeOccarim 7y ago
And sold the rights to 'We' for like $5mil in stock...to the company he founded. Matt Levine has had a great time ripping him apart for this.
- rwmurrayVT 7y ago
  Matt Levine once (or twice..) ripped me apart :(
  - alexhutcheson 7y ago
    Link?
    - rwmurrayVT 7y ago
      https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-07-12/a-speed-race-for-soybeans https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-07-12/a-spee...
      - Lazare 7y ago
        Wow, you're the guy who ran the fake tender offer for Fitbit, made $3k, and went to prison? Ouch. :)
        rwmurrayVT 7y ago
        Well, most of that is accurate. Also forfeiture doesn't account for the fact that you may have paid capital gains tax. I feel like they really shafted me on that one.
        knd775 7y ago
        Did you actually serve the full two years? That would've had you getting out pretty recently.
        rwmurrayVT 7y ago
        Federal sentences are able to be reduced to 85% with good time. It is also possible to participate in a residential drug treatment program to get up to 12 months off of your sentence. Additionally, they typically send you to a privately operated halfway house near the end of your sentence. Halfway house time can vary widely. Participation in the residential program guarantees you at least 4 months in a halfway house. While at the halfway house you can go out into the community socially, for work, and to live at home for up to 48 continuous hours. From the halfway house you are also capable of being placed on full time home confinement. You become eligible when you have 10% of your sentence left. Occasionally more well-known types, such as politicians, are sent to home confinement earlier. This is supposedly because of "security issues" at the halfway house. I was sentenced in March of 2018 and self-surrendered at FCI Morgantown on May of 2018. I participated in the residential program and left in May of 2019. I am fully released in October of 2019. I currently live at the halfway house. You need an ankle monitor to go on home confinement and my place of employment is not compatible with an ankle monitor. Unfortunately, the BOP requires you to pay 25% of your gross income to the halfway house while you reside there. Edit: I can't edit my original comment. I'd also like to add that Matt Levine's wife works at the Federal Defenders of NY office.
    - rwmurrayVT 7y ago
      He mentioned me again today. Sept 16 2019
  - knd775 7y ago
    Maybe don't commit securities fraud
    - rwmurrayVT 7y ago
      I wouldn't recommend it to the average person. It worked out a lot better for me than most would expect.
paulie_a 7y ago
Genuine question: is that legal? That seems incredibly shady.
- bob33212 7y ago
  It depends on what you mean by legal. It seems like fraud to me. However a prosecutor would have it charge him and win in court to get a conviction.
- tyingq 7y ago
  Look up what Eddie Lampert did with Sears. As far as I know, no criminal issues with his self dealing.
  - navigatesol 7y ago
    Elon Musk is being sued by Tesla shareholders as we speak, for the same sort of self-dealing with regards to the SolarCity purchase.
    - tyingq 7y ago
      Sure. Lampart faced some civil suits as well. Just noting no criminal liability thus far.
- braythwayt 7y ago
  Imagine you are a bank or investment firm or hedge fund or VC. You want to do business with person A, I shall call them “Alice.” Alice says to you, right up front, “I need to make one billion dollars, or I look for a different partner.” Are you going to accuse Alice of being greedy, when your entire business consists of making money? You don’t cure the sick, or bring the Internet to rural communities, or manufacture safe transportation, or serve healthy food. You just make money. So you say, “Fine, Alice, but a billion dollars is a lot of money.” Alice says, “How much do you need to make, such that my dream can come true?” So you work out how you can make ten billion, while Alice makes one billion. Now the conversation becomes, “How does Alice take her one billion out of the business, tweaking the knobs for risk, tax advantage, estate planning, and so forth?” You bought into Alice making a billion dollars, so everything else is just details about when she gets the various bits of her billion.

DrAwdeOccarim 7y ago

And sold the rights to 'We' for like $5mil in stock...to the company he founded. Matt Levine has had a great time ripping him apart for this.

rwmurrayVT 7y ago
Matt Levine once (or twice..) ripped me apart :(
- alexhutcheson 7y ago
  Link?
  - rwmurrayVT 7y ago
    https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-07-12/a-speed-race-for-soybeans https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-07-12/a-spee...
    - Lazare 7y ago
      Wow, you're the guy who ran the fake tender offer for Fitbit, made $3k, and went to prison? Ouch. :)
      - rwmurrayVT 7y ago
        Well, most of that is accurate. Also forfeiture doesn't account for the fact that you may have paid capital gains tax. I feel like they really shafted me on that one.
        knd775 7y ago
        Did you actually serve the full two years? That would've had you getting out pretty recently.
        rwmurrayVT 7y ago
        Federal sentences are able to be reduced to 85% with good time. It is also possible to participate in a residential drug treatment program to get up to 12 months off of your sentence. Additionally, they typically send you to a privately operated halfway house near the end of your sentence. Halfway house time can vary widely. Participation in the residential program guarantees you at least 4 months in a halfway house. While at the halfway house you can go out into the community socially, for work, and to live at home for up to 48 continuous hours. From the halfway house you are also capable of being placed on full time home confinement. You become eligible when you have 10% of your sentence left. Occasionally more well-known types, such as politicians, are sent to home confinement earlier. This is supposedly because of "security issues" at the halfway house. I was sentenced in March of 2018 and self-surrendered at FCI Morgantown on May of 2018. I participated in the residential program and left in May of 2019. I am fully released in October of 2019. I currently live at the halfway house. You need an ankle monitor to go on home confinement and my place of employment is not compatible with an ankle monitor. Unfortunately, the BOP requires you to pay 25% of your gross income to the halfway house while you reside there. Edit: I can't edit my original comment. I'd also like to add that Matt Levine's wife works at the Federal Defenders of NY office.
  - rwmurrayVT 7y ago
    He mentioned me again today. Sept 16 2019
- knd775 7y ago
  Maybe don't commit securities fraud
  - rwmurrayVT 7y ago
    I wouldn't recommend it to the average person. It worked out a lot better for me than most would expect.

paulie_a 7y ago

Genuine question: is that legal? That seems incredibly shady.

bob33212 7y ago
It depends on what you mean by legal. It seems like fraud to me. However a prosecutor would have it charge him and win in court to get a conviction.
tyingq 7y ago
Look up what Eddie Lampert did with Sears. As far as I know, no criminal issues with his self dealing.
- navigatesol 7y ago
  Elon Musk is being sued by Tesla shareholders as we speak, for the same sort of self-dealing with regards to the SolarCity purchase.
  - tyingq 7y ago
    Sure. Lampart faced some civil suits as well. Just noting no criminal liability thus far.
braythwayt 7y ago
Imagine you are a bank or investment firm or hedge fund or VC. You want to do business with person A, I shall call them “Alice.” Alice says to you, right up front, “I need to make one billion dollars, or I look for a different partner.” Are you going to accuse Alice of being greedy, when your entire business consists of making money? You don’t cure the sick, or bring the Internet to rural communities, or manufacture safe transportation, or serve healthy food. You just make money. So you say, “Fine, Alice, but a billion dollars is a lot of money.” Alice says, “How much do you need to make, such that my dream can come true?” So you work out how you can make ten billion, while Alice makes one billion. Now the conversation becomes, “How does Alice take her one billion out of the business, tweaking the knobs for risk, tax advantage, estate planning, and so forth?” You bought into Alice making a billion dollars, so everything else is just details about when she gets the various bits of her billion.