Tom Perkins apologizes for Holocaust comments, but it's hardly his first controversy

[alp227]

Source: San Jose Mercury News

Venture capital legend Tom Perkins apologized Monday for likening besieged techies to Holocaust victims, but it's hardly the first time the 82-year-old and his wealth have stoked the flames of controversy.

Eight years ago, he built a sailing yacht for $130 million, admitting he could have spent that fortune on charity but wanted the world's biggest boat. When he later snapped up a 5,500-square-foot apartment atop a San Francisco skyscraper, he told The Wall Street Journal: "I'm called the king of Silicon Valley, why can't I have a penthouse?"

And at the urging of his ex-wife, romance novelist Danielle Steel, Perkins once wrote his own bodice-ripper titled, "Sex and the Single Zillionaire."

But in a very different book, his 2006 memoir "Valley Boy," Perkins recalled growing up in a struggling middle-class family in White Plains, N.Y. The young Perkins vowed to rise above that background by becoming a millionaire before age 30.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_25005611/venture-capitalist-tom-perkins-apologizes-holocaust-comments-but

[JI7]

1. fuck him

[Tx4obama]

2. Venture Capitalist Doubles Down on Claim That America’s Rich Are Like Jews in Nazi Germany

Venture Capitalist Doubles Down on Claim That America’s Rich Are Like Jews in Nazi Germany

Multimillionaire venture capitalist Tom Perkins came under fire over the weekend when he penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal calling out the liberal wing of the Democratic Party for inciting a potential “progressive Kristallnacht” against the wealthy. Appearing on Bloomberg TV on Monday, Perkins said he did regret the use of that word but stood behind the sentiment he expressed in that opinion piece.

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Full article here: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/venture-capitalist-doubles-down-on-claim-that-americas-rich-are-like-jews-in-nazi-germany-2/

-snip-

... in a Bloomberg interview Monday, Perkins apologized for comparing political vandalism in the Bay Area to Kristallnacht, the 1938 series of attacks in Germany on Jewish homes and businesses that preceded Hitler's "Final Solution."

"It was a terrible word to have chosen," he said.

But Perkins said he did not regret his underlying message: "When you start to use hatred against a minority, it can get out of control." He also argued, "The 1 percent are not causing inequality -- they're the job creators."

-snip-

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_25005611/venture-capitalist-tom-perkins-apologizes-holocaust-comments-but

[mackerel]

3. I liked C.W. Nevius response

http://blog.sfgate.com/cwnevius/2014/01/27/how-can-tom-perkins-be-so-smart-about-money-and-so-dumb-about-public-relations/

[father founding]

4. OBA

The only thing the 1 percent create are OBA's Offshore Banking Accounts.'

[SunSeeker]

5. My favorite reader comment from the article:

Whats more important, rich people with more money than they could ever spend sniveling that nobody loves them, or the future of America? Raise taxes (estate, cap gains, windfall profits, etc.) and put the money to work rebuilding the America they have sold out.

[Madmiddle]

6. You caught us Tommy.

Here in Murica we have plans to deal with millionaires that say really stupid shit. Post it all over the place. Simple as that. No frills no chills. Just tell everybody that even when you're a billionaire, it doesn't stop you from being a complete moron. The Nazi thing is cute because it shows that good ol Tommy boy has nothing really good to say because he realizes that it's not just his fault he's an asshole, but congress and the senate are part of the assholedom.

[Cryptoad]

7. Poor little Rich Ass Hole

big mean Progressive picking on him!

geeez