4 ms·

Immortal page of "how to ride an unicorn to death"

by mister_hn 7y ago

et2o 7y ago
Well, he still made it out as a billionaire.
- jgalt212 7y ago
  did he? He's very levered against his stock.
  - sudhirj 7y ago
    Even worth the buildings owned and the cash payments for the word ‘we’?
    - CrazyStat 7y ago
      He gave back the trademark payment iirc. He got a few hundred million for stock he sold, and borrowed a few hundred million more against stock he still owned. We don't know the exact numbers though. He also gave away $100m+.
    - thedufer 7y ago
      He was paid for 'we' in stock, not cash, and he ended up paying it back after their first IPO filing caused an uproar.
- sudhirj 7y ago
  At least it was private money that hopefully learnt their lesson. Think of it as karmic wealth redistribution. Unless the private money turned out to be pension funds in which case oh shit.
  - Ididntdothis 7y ago
    Most likely it was pension funds or municipalities. It’s not the VCs own money
    - goatinaboat 7y ago
      Most of it was the Saudi royal family’s money, they were the biggest investors in the Vision Fund.
      - api 7y ago
        Not sure I'd rip off Mohammed Bonesaw, but I guess he didn't do so directly. The vision fund is the truly amazing case of serial capital destruction. Of course it brings to mind something I heard from a PI years ago: if something doesn't make sense as a business, maybe it makes sense in some other way. Could this be somehow about moving money around? No clue, just wild speculation because it all looks so irrational.
goatinaboat 7y ago
He looks set to walk away with $700m regardless. He deserves a chapter of his own in How To Sucker A VC.
- pxue 7y ago
  Not unless he gets sued. And I hope he does
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
    He borrowed money against his WW shares. There are rumours a margin call may be due.
    - pmart123 7y ago
      At this point, he should really be looking to add a property in Florida before it is too late.
      - onetimemanytime 7y ago
        how does that work? I know from OJ that FL law protects the home, but will you have a $50 Million home with all the expenses but that cannot sell? Maybe he can borrow against it... But I doubt he'll get sued. Unless he fudged the numbers it isn't his fault that supposedly sophisticated suckers gave him money.
        pmart123 7y ago
        I think it would be hard to prove anything outside out of gross incompetence. If he buys a Florida home and uses it as his primary residence, he would be able to keep the house even during bankruptcy. So he could buy the $40M, declare bankruptcy on the margin loan, and then sell the house eventually as far as I understand it.
gigatexal 7y ago
Or the immortal page for the definition of megalomania

Immortal page of "how to ride an unicorn to death"

et2o 7y ago

Well, he still made it out as a billionaire.

jgalt212 7y ago
did he? He's very levered against his stock.
- sudhirj 7y ago
  Even worth the buildings owned and the cash payments for the word ‘we’?
  - CrazyStat 7y ago
    He gave back the trademark payment iirc. He got a few hundred million for stock he sold, and borrowed a few hundred million more against stock he still owned. We don't know the exact numbers though. He also gave away $100m+.
  - thedufer 7y ago
    He was paid for 'we' in stock, not cash, and he ended up paying it back after their first IPO filing caused an uproar.
sudhirj 7y ago
At least it was private money that hopefully learnt their lesson. Think of it as karmic wealth redistribution. Unless the private money turned out to be pension funds in which case oh shit.
- Ididntdothis 7y ago
  Most likely it was pension funds or municipalities. It’s not the VCs own money
  - goatinaboat 7y ago
    Most of it was the Saudi royal family’s money, they were the biggest investors in the Vision Fund.
    - api 7y ago
      Not sure I'd rip off Mohammed Bonesaw, but I guess he didn't do so directly. The vision fund is the truly amazing case of serial capital destruction. Of course it brings to mind something I heard from a PI years ago: if something doesn't make sense as a business, maybe it makes sense in some other way. Could this be somehow about moving money around? No clue, just wild speculation because it all looks so irrational.

goatinaboat 7y ago

He looks set to walk away with $700m regardless. He deserves a chapter of his own in How To Sucker A VC.

pxue 7y ago
Not unless he gets sued. And I hope he does
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
  He borrowed money against his WW shares. There are rumours a margin call may be due.
  - pmart123 7y ago
    At this point, he should really be looking to add a property in Florida before it is too late.
    - onetimemanytime 7y ago
      how does that work? I know from OJ that FL law protects the home, but will you have a $50 Million home with all the expenses but that cannot sell? Maybe he can borrow against it... But I doubt he'll get sued. Unless he fudged the numbers it isn't his fault that supposedly sophisticated suckers gave him money.
      - pmart123 7y ago
        I think it would be hard to prove anything outside out of gross incompetence. If he buys a Florida home and uses it as his primary residence, he would be able to keep the house even during bankruptcy. So he could buy the $40M, declare bankruptcy on the margin loan, and then sell the house eventually as far as I understand it.

gigatexal 7y ago

Or the immortal page for the definition of megalomania