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I'm having a great deal of difficulty trying to scrounge up a shred of sympathy for Mr. Pincus. A man who has made vast sums of money running an unethical comp

I'm having a great deal of difficulty trying to scrounge up a shred of sympathy for Mr. Pincus. A man who has made vast sums of money running an unethical company unethically, who has screwed over users and employees at every turn, is now suffering his comeuppance. Tragic. His employees on the other hand, bound as they are by golden handcuffs and seeing their stocks plummet, are far more deserving of our sympathy and good will. I'm far more willing to extend my understanding to those caught in the machine than to he who operates it. Hopefully, Zynga will soon be a footnote in history, Pincus will retire with whatever he stashed away from the IPO, and his employees will find gainful employment doing something less shady and banal.

danilocampos 14y ago
Egos like that, sadly, don't retire.
rndmize 14y ago
"...Zynga has consistently reported losses since going public, however; news of the CEO dumping his stock is a blow to the company's image. Of all the insiders involved in the deal, Pincus made the most money, netting around $200 million from the sale." I don't see how he's suffering any kind of comeuppance.
firefoxman1 14y ago
It's amazing how far humans have progressed in 150 years isn't it? A century ago you had a right to complain about working conditions if, for example, you lost a limb in a meat factory. In the 1880s 1 in 7 steel workers would die while at work each year. Industrialists were considered "exploiting" the workers when they paid them $1 a day, hardly a liveable wage, and young children worked for even less. Contrast that with what we consider "unethical" today about a company that makes cartoon games on a computer screen, which the user can step away from at any time. The employees are top-notch talent that could easily find employment elsewhere if they get tired of their in-house chef's meals.
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  I think the point is that a games company should be something that's actually very difficult to run unethically, yet somehow they managed it.
  - shaggyfrog 14y ago
    Are you kidding me? The games industry is practically founded on the broken backs of unethical labour practices. It's been a massive challenge, especially for the largest players, to change that.
    - jiggy2011 14y ago
      Games jobs often have long hours and shitty pay, but at least you know what to expect going in. Based on the press coverage of Zynga it's almost like they are trying to mistreat people as a matter of course.

danilocampos 14y ago

Egos like that, sadly, don't retire.

rndmize 14y ago

"...Zynga has consistently reported losses since going public, however; news of the CEO dumping his stock is a blow to the company's image. Of all the insiders involved in the deal, Pincus made the most money, netting around $200 million from the sale." I don't see how he's suffering any kind of comeuppance.

firefoxman1 14y ago

It's amazing how far humans have progressed in 150 years isn't it? A century ago you had a right to complain about working conditions if, for example, you lost a limb in a meat factory. In the 1880s 1 in 7 steel workers would die while at work each year. Industrialists were considered "exploiting" the workers when they paid them $1 a day, hardly a liveable wage, and young children worked for even less. Contrast that with what we consider "unethical" today about a company that makes cartoon games on a computer screen, which the user can step away from at any time. The employees are top-notch talent that could easily find employment elsewhere if they get tired of their in-house chef's meals.

jiggy2011 14y ago
I think the point is that a games company should be something that's actually very difficult to run unethically, yet somehow they managed it.
- shaggyfrog 14y ago
  Are you kidding me? The games industry is practically founded on the broken backs of unethical labour practices. It's been a massive challenge, especially for the largest players, to change that.
  - jiggy2011 14y ago
    Games jobs often have long hours and shitty pay, but at least you know what to expect going in. Based on the press coverage of Zynga it's almost like they are trying to mistreat people as a matter of course.