VanToai
New Contributor
Today, Zynga stock dropped to below the value of their cash and real estate: LA Times
If you dig in, it's a dirty story. Zynga's business practices under the watch of CEO Mark Pincus have been dark for a long time now. Spammy tactics (we're all well familiar with those...), scamming users for revenues, notoriously horrific working conditions, and the 2011 stock option scandal - where Zynga demanded employees give back not-yet-vested stock or be fired (how is that even legal?).
Despite it all, CEO Mark Pincus is absolutely crushing it. Wikipedia has his net worth at $1.8B. He made sure to cash out handsomely before his employees were able to. And Zynga isn't his only feat - he founded support.com in the 2001 bubble, and was also an early investor in Facebook - in both cases, Pincus was able to cash out at least partially before the fall. As Forbes reports, "Zynga Keeps Crashing, But Mark Pincus Is Having A Great Year".
It's easy to look at the number, $1.8B (or somewhere around there), and feel the desire. Looking at that amount, it could be easy to say "for that much money, you would do it to." And sure, there's truth in that. $1.8B is... $1.8 F*cking B. You know what's cool?
But there's more than one path to wealth. Wealth can be generated in several different ways - creating value, inheriting value, or hoarding/stealing value.
On the surface, Pincus might seem fastlane. He builds businesses, and they create value, so it seems.
But his track record indicates that instead of creating value, his special skill is deception. Building elaborate houses of cards and cashing out before the drop. Only a slightly more legal cousin of a ponzi scheme.
I would hope fellow fastlaners look at this story, look at his bank account, and then look at the man and decide despite the riches, this isn't the path to follow. We're ambitious, but ambition doesn't need to be coupled with this level of greed and barbarity. I'd rather be a multi-millionaire with a clean conscience and a net-positive impact on the world, that a billionaire with Pincus's legacy.
"One way to remember who you are is to remember who your heroes are"
-Steve Jobs.
Let Mark Pincus be nobody's hero.
Sources:
Forbes - Zynga Keeps Crashing but Mark Pincus Is Having A Great Year
CNET - Zynga to Employees 'Give us Back Our Stock or You'll Be Fired"
TechCrunch - "Zynga CEO Mark Pincus: "I Did Every Horrible Thing In The Book Just To Get Revenues""
LATimes - Zynga stock plummets below value of its cash and real estate
ITWorld - Why It Sucks to Work At Zynga
Wikipedia - Mark Pincus
If you dig in, it's a dirty story. Zynga's business practices under the watch of CEO Mark Pincus have been dark for a long time now. Spammy tactics (we're all well familiar with those...), scamming users for revenues, notoriously horrific working conditions, and the 2011 stock option scandal - where Zynga demanded employees give back not-yet-vested stock or be fired (how is that even legal?).
Despite it all, CEO Mark Pincus is absolutely crushing it. Wikipedia has his net worth at $1.8B. He made sure to cash out handsomely before his employees were able to. And Zynga isn't his only feat - he founded support.com in the 2001 bubble, and was also an early investor in Facebook - in both cases, Pincus was able to cash out at least partially before the fall. As Forbes reports, "Zynga Keeps Crashing, But Mark Pincus Is Having A Great Year".
It's easy to look at the number, $1.8B (or somewhere around there), and feel the desire. Looking at that amount, it could be easy to say "for that much money, you would do it to." And sure, there's truth in that. $1.8B is... $1.8 F*cking B. You know what's cool?
But there's more than one path to wealth. Wealth can be generated in several different ways - creating value, inheriting value, or hoarding/stealing value.
On the surface, Pincus might seem fastlane. He builds businesses, and they create value, so it seems.
But his track record indicates that instead of creating value, his special skill is deception. Building elaborate houses of cards and cashing out before the drop. Only a slightly more legal cousin of a ponzi scheme.
I would hope fellow fastlaners look at this story, look at his bank account, and then look at the man and decide despite the riches, this isn't the path to follow. We're ambitious, but ambition doesn't need to be coupled with this level of greed and barbarity. I'd rather be a multi-millionaire with a clean conscience and a net-positive impact on the world, that a billionaire with Pincus's legacy.
"One way to remember who you are is to remember who your heroes are"
-Steve Jobs.
Let Mark Pincus be nobody's hero.
Sources:
Forbes - Zynga Keeps Crashing but Mark Pincus Is Having A Great Year
CNET - Zynga to Employees 'Give us Back Our Stock or You'll Be Fired"
TechCrunch - "Zynga CEO Mark Pincus: "I Did Every Horrible Thing In The Book Just To Get Revenues""
LATimes - Zynga stock plummets below value of its cash and real estate
ITWorld - Why It Sucks to Work At Zynga
Wikipedia - Mark Pincus
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