5 ms·

I am probably misunderstanding something here, but what's the point of buying a company without owning the whole thing? What are they actually "buying" here? I

by lwb 7y ago

I am probably misunderstanding something here, but what's the point of buying a company without owning the whole thing? What are they actually "buying" here? I assume Temkin/CAH owns some significant portion of Clickhole so it's not 100% employee owned? Else why would they do it?

Dylan16807 7y ago
"ClickHole’s employees will become the majority owners of the site." Buying something to only own 40% (for example) is fine if the price is good, or you want to keep it safe.
samstave 7y ago
After rising from the dead, the media mogul, Hurst, saw what a joke his empire had become - vowing revenge - he has taken to amassing a portfolio of the worlds best parody news and entertainment properties he can get his rotting zombie mitts on. A source close to the matter was quoted as saying “Holy shit! The onion is finally in some real news!! The end is neigh!”
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
tomnipotent 7y ago
> I assume Temkin/CAH owns some significant portion of Clickhole Yes, 60% because they gave the other 40% to the existing employees. Considering it has 5 FT employees, that sounds like a pretty good deal and a great incentive to keep existing staff.
- vonmoltke 7y ago
  > Yes, 60% because they gave the other 40% to the existing employees. The article mentions no numbers, buy it does specifically say the current employees have a combined majority stake. Where did you get these numbers from?
  - skinnymuch 7y ago
    This was bothering me too. I couldn’t find numbers anywhere. Even though no one is likely to see this as the post didn’t get big and this is over a day old. Parent comment was continuing the hypothetical 40% CAH ownership of grandparent.
fragmede 7y ago
You're not - there isn't one. "To be nice" isn't a "point" under capitalism, there's less profit to be had with that and is hard to represent on a balance sheet. Thing is, CAH frequently doesn't follow the "point" of capitalism. One year they bought a pointless hole - ie, bought some land, rented a digger, and paid a worker to dig a hole. Another year they took the proceeds from a sale, and just gave the money away.[https://cardsagainsthumanityredistributesyourwealth.com/ https://cardsagainsthumanityredistributesyourwealth.com/] Or bought an island to give away. There is arguably value derived for CAH via these stunts, in the form of marketing and branding and such but it's less direct. In this case, CAH is supporting fellow local artist group Clickhole. Both groups are based in chicago and have know each other of years through the local comedy scene. By buying the site and giving it to the employees - arguably those that would know the best how to run it, CAH is buying it's continued existence with a very hands-off approach. The opposite of helicopter parenting, as it were.
- skinnymuch 7y ago
  How or what do you know about the two companies knowing one another through the local comedy scene?

by lwb 7y ago

Dylan16807 7y ago

"ClickHole’s employees will become the majority owners of the site." Buying something to only own 40% (for example) is fine if the price is good, or you want to keep it safe.

samstave 7y ago

After rising from the dead, the media mogul, Hurst, saw what a joke his empire had become - vowing revenge - he has taken to amassing a portfolio of the worlds best parody news and entertainment properties he can get his rotting zombie mitts on. A source close to the matter was quoted as saying “Holy shit! The onion is finally in some real news!! The end is neigh!”

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

tomnipotent 7y ago

> I assume Temkin/CAH owns some significant portion of Clickhole Yes, 60% because they gave the other 40% to the existing employees. Considering it has 5 FT employees, that sounds like a pretty good deal and a great incentive to keep existing staff.

vonmoltke 7y ago
> Yes, 60% because they gave the other 40% to the existing employees. The article mentions no numbers, buy it does specifically say the current employees have a combined majority stake. Where did you get these numbers from?
- skinnymuch 7y ago
  This was bothering me too. I couldn’t find numbers anywhere. Even though no one is likely to see this as the post didn’t get big and this is over a day old. Parent comment was continuing the hypothetical 40% CAH ownership of grandparent.

fragmede 7y ago

You're not - there isn't one. "To be nice" isn't a "point" under capitalism, there's less profit to be had with that and is hard to represent on a balance sheet. Thing is, CAH frequently doesn't follow the "point" of capitalism. One year they bought a pointless hole - ie, bought some land, rented a digger, and paid a worker to dig a hole. Another year they took the proceeds from a sale, and just gave the money away.[https://cardsagainsthumanityredistributesyourwealth.com/ https://cardsagainsthumanityredistributesyourwealth.com/] Or bought an island to give away. There is arguably value derived for CAH via these stunts, in the form of marketing and branding and such but it's less direct. In this case, CAH is supporting fellow local artist group Clickhole. Both groups are based in chicago and have know each other of years through the local comedy scene. By buying the site and giving it to the employees - arguably those that would know the best how to run it, CAH is buying it's continued existence with a very hands-off approach. The opposite of helicopter parenting, as it were.

skinnymuch 7y ago
How or what do you know about the two companies knowing one another through the local comedy scene?