This is why I hate Capitalism...

Nov 16, 17 20:31

Post #1 of 17 (1709 views)

We can't run a company worth a shit so pay us $$$$$$$$$$$ to continue our incompetency:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Toys "R" Us has asked the bankruptcy court for permission to pay $16 million in bonuses to its top executives if the company is able to hit some financial targets during the upcoming holiday shopping season.

Toys "R" Us filed for bankruptcy in September, and now must get court approval for many of its basic business decisions. The court will have the final say on its incentive plan.

In the filing made with the court Wednesday the company argues the bonuses are necessary to get executives to perform at a high level during its bankruptcy.

"It is the [company's] employees — and more particularly the senior management team — that must execute at this critical juncture and provide the foundation for a successful turnaround," it said in the filing.

Among the 17 executives who would get payments is chairman and CEO David Brandon, who joined the company in 2015.

"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

Re: This is why I hate Capitalism... [jkca1] [ In reply to ]

Nov 16, 17 20:35

Post #2 of 17 (1706 views)

Agreed this is total executives trying to cash out under the guise of "oh we'll be more motivated to perform better during distress". Shouldn't that be your job anyway?

Re: This is why I hate Capitalism... [jkca1] [ In reply to ]

Nov 16, 17 20:47

Post #3 of 17 (1688 views)

A friend of mine is a bankruptcy judge in Van Nuys.

According to him bankruptcy court is nothing but a bunch of vultures trying to pick the bones off of an ever shrinking and rapidly rotting carcass.

His job is to determine who is the least deserving of whoever stands before him but, he says, pretty much everyone on all side are pure scum.

Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

Re: This is why I hate Capitalism... [Duffy] [ In reply to ]

Nov 16, 17 20:51

Post #4 of 17 (1683 views)

Interesting but not incredibly surprising I suppose, everyone's trying to salvage what they can from a busted investment. Curious what he means by determine who is least deserving, isn't there inherently usually priority rights to some degree within the various parties?

Re: This is why I hate Capitalism... [Blee] [ In reply to ]

Nov 16, 17 21:04

Post #5 of 17 (1670 views)

Blee wrote:

Interesting but not incredibly surprising I suppose, everyone's trying to salvage what they can from a busted investment. Curious what he means by determine who is least deserving, isn't there inherently usually priority rights to some degree within the various parties?

There are but there are also people (creditors) that he sees over and and over again who throw money at sinking companies and come out on the other side (through court rulings and tax breaks and who knows what all else) making money.

There are people who throw gas on the fire so they can warm a few or their marshmallows.

Most of the of it goes down like this...

Lawyers and the court get paid first, then big creditors, then little creditors, then venders, then small investors. The small investors almost never get paid and they are usually the ones who are working on the thinnest of margins so they get screwed the most.

I know I’m butchering this but basically the biggest most amoral pricks usuing end up getting the most of the money. And that money came from a whole bunch of people who lost money.

Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

Re: This is why I hate Capitalism... [Duffy] [ In reply to ]

Nov 16, 17 21:11

Post #6 of 17 (1663 views)

Yeah that's true. I'm not fluently versed in bankruptcy proceedings but there are definitely some "predatory" firms that look for vulnerable companies to buy the debt up on the cheap and take over / cash it all out.

Re: This is why I hate Capitalism... [Blee] [ In reply to ]

Nov 17, 17 4:22

Post #7 of 17 (1575 views)

Blee wrote:

Yeah that's true. I'm not fluently versed in bankruptcy proceedings but there are definitely some "predatory" firms that look for vulnerable companies to buy the debt up on the cheap and take over / cash it all out.

There is that firm Dewey Screwem & Howe.

Re: This is why I hate Capitalism... [jkca1] [ In reply to ]

Nov 17, 17 5:35

Post #8 of 17 (1518 views)

jkca1 wrote:

Among the 17 executives who would get payments is chairman and CEO David Brandon, who joined the company in 2015.

The same Dave Brandon that was the disastrous athletic director at Michigan that lead to the Brady Hoke era.

Re: This is why I hate Capitalism... [jkca1] [ In reply to ]

Nov 17, 17 5:47

Post #9 of 17 (1501 views)

Bah, it's not like anyone important ever made money through bankruptcy. #MAGA

Re: This is why I hate Capitalism... [jkca1] [ In reply to ]

Nov 17, 17 6:07

Post #10 of 17 (1479 views)

You hate capitalism because people won't work for free or work for less than they can work elsewhere?

Re: This is why I hate Capitalism... [Blee] [ In reply to ]

Nov 17, 17 6:30

Post #11 of 17 (1434 views)

Blee wrote:

Yeah that's true. I'm not fluently versed in bankruptcy proceedings but there are definitely some "predatory" firms that look for vulnerable companies to buy the debt up on the cheap and take over / cash it all out.

And that is bad why, comrade?

Re: This is why I hate Capitalism... [FishyJoe] [ In reply to ]

Nov 17, 17 6:31

Post #12 of 17 (1428 views)

FishyJoe wrote:

Bah, it's not like anyone important ever made money through bankruptcy. #MAGA

Agreed. Bring back debtors prison

Re: This is why I hate Capitalism... [jkca1] [ In reply to ]

Nov 17, 17 6:45

Post #13 of 17 (1413 views)

Toys "R" Us has asked the bankruptcy court for permission to pay $16 million in bonuses to its top executives if the company is able to hit some financial targets during the upcoming holiday shopping season.

I would think that is one of the strengths of the bankruptcy provisions and our capitalism. If it was any other system, they wouldn't ask for permission, they would just do it.

Re: This is why I hate Capitalism... [jkca1] [ In reply to ]

Nov 17, 17 7:44

Post #14 of 17 (1371 views)

Turns out that navigating a company of this size through a restructuring (Ch. 11) is quite a marketable skill so this request isn’t really out of line.

Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

Re: This is why I hate Capitalism... [jkca1] [ In reply to ]

Nov 17, 17 8:30

Post #15 of 17 (1328 views)

A company in a totalitarian, socialist or communist country simply takes any funding it needs from the national treasury, transferring the problem cost to those who pay the taxes. At least in the capitalist economy, it is the stockholders and creditors who are left with the problem and not the taxpayer.

Of course some of our politicians act like our economy is one of the former types, like the banks and automakers, who were "too big to fail". They should have let them fail, then better companies would have risen to take their places.

Re: This is why I hate Capitalism... [vecchia capra] [ In reply to ]

Nov 17, 17 9:54

Post #16 of 17 (1298 views)

vecchia capra wrote:

A company in a totalitarian, socialist or communist country simply takes any funding it needs from the national treasury, transferring the problem cost to those who pay the taxes. At least in the capitalist economy, it is the stockholders and creditors who are left with the problem and not the taxpayer.

Of course some of our politicians act like our economy is one of the former types, like the banks and automakers, who were "too big to fail". They should have let them fail, then better companies would have risen to take their places.

You mean like the mining companies in the foothills near here who've walked away and declared bankruptcy after their claims are played out, so the downstream public gets to pay for all the toxic runoff leaching from the mines when they're declared Superfund sites? Those taxpayers (we) aren't stuck w/ the cleanup bill? It's pretty much the standard business model for that segment of the industry in these parts, the way the rules/incentives are currently set up to privatize the profits (minus a trivial royalty paid to the BLM or USFS on public lands) and socialize all the environmental cost; crime pays...

Last edited by: OneGoodLeg: Nov 17, 17 9:57

Re: This is why I hate Capitalism... [Thom] [ In reply to ]

Nov 17, 17 11:28

Post #17 of 17 (1243 views)

Thom wrote:

jkca1 wrote:

Among the 17 executives who would get payments is chairman and CEO David Brandon, who joined the company in 2015.

The same Dave Brandon that was the disastrous athletic director at Michigan that lead to the Brady Hoke era.

Damn! What a great connection you made.

"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

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