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> (The idea that she was doing it for the money, because of her husband's finances, I find absurd. I could be wrong but I didn't see it as remotely likely that
by stolio 12y ago
> (The idea that she was doing it for the money, because of her husband's finances, I find absurd. I could be wrong but I didn't see it as remotely likely that she'd get $16M, even if she won.)
Don't be fooled, there's still money in what she's doing. Plus other forms of personal gain. I doubt this hurts her with reddit given their actions over the past few years and this positions her to be a hero to a very powerful and growing political movement.
Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In has sold 1.6 million copies, if she gets $1.50/book thats $2.4 million. Plus $50-100k for speaking engagements, plus seminars, other branding, revenue streams, etc. She's a billionaire so if she ends up making $10+ million through her activism that's no big deal, but it shows there's decent money to be made there.
"Professional activist" is a now career. Anita Sarkeesian's kickstarter to expose male privilege in video games brought in over $150k, originally it was for under $10k but over time she's been able to monetize her victimization in the sense that the more she's "victimized" the more her supporters give to her so she can continue fighting the power. Her non-profit brought in almost $400k during fourth-quarter of 2014 because of gamergate. (http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2015/01/24/anita-sarkeesian-releases-kickstarter-breakdown-raised-440000-in-2014/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2015/01/24/anita-sarkee...) Her career hasn't been hurt by discrimination, it's been made by it.
It's like racism and the black community, it's really bad for most of them but then there are the Public Enemy's and Al Sharpton's who thrive on it. Is Al Sharpton a victim of racism? In a way, but he's also a major beneficiary of it. Is Pao a victim of gender discrimination? Maybe, but she's positioned to capitalize on it either way. Could she make more than the $400k severance package she was offered? I wouldn't doubt it. Will it make up for lost income? That's only a question if reddit let's her go, which doesn't look likely: http://fortune.com/2014/11/13/reddits-new-ceo-may-not-be-interim-for-long/ http://fortune.com/2014/11/13/reddits-new-ceo-may-not-be-int...
edit: ah, yes. The obligatory "you're not contributing to the discussion the way I want you to so I'm going to misuse the downvote button to hide your comment" downvotes.
- dominotw 12y ago>"Professional activist" is a now career There is also a whole new careers like 'diversity consultants' who coach on men on 'ally skills'. I am not making this up.
- michaelochurch 12y agoI upvoted you to cancel out the downvote, but I disagree. First of all, the "professional activist" gig that you're talking about is one with a power-law distribution. Most people who speak out against bad behavior by employers end up losing for it. (I can speak to this one, personally.) Sure, there are a few people who hit big and make enough money to support themselves, but they're very rare. From an expected-value perspective, she reduced her earning potential, even including the possibility of winning the suit. While she was asking for $16 million, as a lawyer, she probably knew that even had she won, she'd be lucky to get 1/5 of that, net of attorney fees. Meanwhile, she endangered her ability to ever return to venture capital. Also, Sheryl Sandberg isn't really a professional activist. She's establishment. "Lean in", as I understand it, isn't about up-ending the corporate regime but adapting to it.
- stolio 12y agoI appreciate the corrective upvote. I also agree that the professional activist gig is rare and difficult to land, but that doesn't mean people don't try. Pao is already making waves by cleaning up the "woman-hating mess" that is reddit. She's already gained hero status[0] within some circles for this lawsuit (sorry for the pay wall). It's hard to place a monetary value on securing yourself a place in the history books but that's what she's done, in 50 years her name will be listed among the brave women who fought for a better world. Add in the human aspect of maybe not wanting to admit some personal failures and the lower bound of legitimacy needed to bring the suit isn't very high. You seemed to be saying you couldn't see any possible motivation other than the legitimacy of the lawsuit, so I'm suggesting there are several beyond the obvious payout. On Sandberg being establishment, I agree. But I don't think I agree that feminism in general or "professional activists" are anti-establishment. [0] - http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/Ellen-Pao-like-Anita-Hill-changing-the-dialogue-6149161.php http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/Ellen-Pao-like-An...