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mitty14u2

(1,015 posts)
Sat Dec 14, 2013, 10:00 PM Dec 2013

Ayn Rand-loving CEO destroys his empire - Sears

The invisible hand waves bye-bye to Eddie Lampert, whose business plan has run Sears into the ground

Once upon a time, hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert was living a Wall Street fairy tale. His fairy godmother was Ayn Rand, the dashing diva of free-market ideology whose quirky economic notions would transform him into a glamorous business hero.

For a while, it seemed to work like a charm. Pundits called him the “Steve Jobs of the investment world.” The new Warren Buffett. By 2006 he was flying high, the richest man in Connecticut, managing over $15 billion thorough his hedge fund, ESL Investments.

Stoked by his Wall Street success, Lampert plunged headlong into the retail world. Undaunted by his lack of industry experience and hailed a genius, Lampert boldly pushed to merge Kmart and Sears with a layoff and cost-cutting strategy that would, he promised, send profits into the stratosphere. Meanwhile the hotshot threw cash around like an oil sheikh, buying a $40 million pad in Florida’s Biscayne Bay, a record even for that star-studded county.

Fast-forward to 2013: The fairy tale has become a nightmare.

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/10/ayn_rand_loving_ceo_destroys_his_empire_partner/

The GOP and Ayn Rand Lovers are great at Distroying Things!

6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Ayn Rand-loving CEO destroys his empire - Sears (Original Post) mitty14u2 Dec 2013 OP
Suck it Eddie! flying rabbit Dec 2013 #1
And it all comes down to this line, Curmudgeoness Dec 2013 #2
This message was self-deleted by its author russspeakeasy Dec 2013 #3
What is a mystery to me Warpy Dec 2013 #4
And to think the Repub party wanted us to elect an asshole like this to the White House... Wounded Bear Dec 2013 #5
"Looks like the invisible hand just waved goodbye to Eddie Lampert." Great quote. n/t DebJ Dec 2013 #6

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)
2. And it all comes down to this line,
Sat Dec 14, 2013, 11:06 PM
Dec 2013
Truth be told, hedge fund honchos have had little to fear from royally screwing companies. Bank accounts fattened at the expense of workers and other stakeholders, they go on their merry way to mess up something else.


Lucky for the world, this honcho has screwed the pooch and will probably not be trusted in the financial community again. Such a shame for poor Eddie.

Response to mitty14u2 (Original post)

Warpy

(111,245 posts)
4. What is a mystery to me
Sat Dec 14, 2013, 11:45 PM
Dec 2013

is why the board of directors haven't cut this clown loose.

The experiment is obviously a failure, well, obvious to everybody but Crazy Eddie.

I'm not one of their stockholders and if I'd inherited any of it, I'd have cut it loose years ago. Badly managed companies are money losers.

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