I just got to read the blog A visit to CEO-Land, by On Puget SoundA visit to CEO-Land
I am not sure how to react to this. Or what I should or should not say here. In the Poll it says "This is less important than Iraq, global warming, or other issues, and I'd prefer to see less attention and energy spent on it."
How very wrong that statement is, how very wrong this whole situation is today.
More....
UPDATE: 2/25/2007
Struck Names intentionally, was tired and should not have done that
This was my world for the past 6 years now. A world of extravagance, and entitlement that can not be adequately described here by me. I am not an eloquent writer, I just know what I know.
The life on that end of the financial spectrum is not what you think, not what you imagine. Having enough money to do anything you want, changes everything. Literally everything. Life as most American people know it, is completely and utterly miserable compares to the Upper Echelon. Do they cook at home, and have children, yes. Do they have problems like you, yes. They are human beings, there are just some distinct differences.
.UPDATE continued
Nothing mentioned in here is Illegal, as far as I know. It is all perfectly legal and not even considered a part of your compensation package .
I was in a corp. Townhouse for 2 years, A woman came in and cleaned, picked up the groceries, took care of my animals, we didn't have to do anything but come home. When A Visit to CEO Land was written, this is the vantage point he should have used. Not how much a car cost. They don’t' buy them.
Life at the top of the food chain, does not usually include such mundane decisions as , how will I pay the light bill? Because the light bill is in the company's name. I hear little sub contractors talk about it all the time, I will buy a car through my company, that was I got a new car and write it off on my taxes.
In Corporation Land, You don’t' need a car, you need that unlimited Credit Card. Very few have them, I had one. See? You don't use your money in CEO land you use corporate money. Makes it much easier to get rich, if you have no living expenses. Leaves you out of touch too, never in the real world talking to real people. so you begin to believe the Pres when he talks war, will make you more profitable anyway. When They offer billions of dollars in contracts, you believe. And even when I didn't the contract was more important than my belief.
On Puget Sound mentions:
A top quality luxury ride can be had for cash, about $100 and that Mercedes is yours free and clear. And with gas at about two gallons per penny, who cares about mileage? Ok who the hell buys cars?
The company leases them for you, your condo, corporate leased, on the Pacific Ocean in Long Beach California no less.
100 foot sail boat for you and the family? Sure we will run the payments through the e-procurement system. Satellite phone while you sail, no problem.
A house on Montauk, in the Virgin Islands, Ranches in Montana, etc., good god who the hell buys this stuff for themselves?
Get a new computer a week, LOL. Vendors will just drop them off daily, configured if you like, to your exact specifications, and there is one of us in your company, who knows what your specifications are, no worries boss I will make sure they know.
Everything Pungent mentions is the half-pennies of the day, not even a rounding error. These are not even topics of conversations, take my word for it. I once mentioned my mother getting ill. The answer was "I have never met a problem money can't fix"
Want to know what they really do? All Day? every day?
They meet, with each other, on how to make more money. With their top guys on how to make the Stock Options more lucrative. How to avoid using options and STILL make 2 million that week.
Where else can we draw blood? We need to increase the bottom line what can we do? After all the 28 year Olds on Wall Street, are all short term, short sighted fresh outta college give me the money types. If I don’t' perform EVERY quarter, The whole place is dead.
Let's look at the suppliers first: (how to draw blood from a vendor) Class #101
Corp to Vendor:
Want to play in my park? There is about 5 Billion dollars in here for you, but since I told you that, now let's talk. In order to be my preferred vendor, I need an up front payment, say 2 points on the total value of the contract. Up front if you please, just make the check out to the corporation.
Now year in and year out, I want 5 points, too much? What do you mean too much, your total gross sales are only 10 Million; I am talking about 5 billion, ok then 5 points. I thought you would see it my way. Now that "rebate" money, cut a check quarterly, straight to the bottom line.
?FAR? Far you say? We pay our monthly dues to the government, We disclose the total rebate. Don’t' you worry about that. We are SOX Compliant!
Now how do you book the first 10 Million the vendor sends? Where do you put it? It is not revenue, how to book this what to do, what to do.
They disclose (all of them do report this too) the rebates that are contractual, but there are the overages. Jezzz what to do with these overages, they are not much, 1 - 2 points of the total procurement 8 - 10 billion dollars (80 - 100 Million Dollars) Now what do we do with that?
Not a rounding error anymore. Now is it.
But that "revenue" stream, well in some parts of the world you can only deal in cash right? Like the Middle East. Or South Africa. Some of that can be used there, to help our cause in the Middle East. OUR cause in the Middle East, this is NOT an OIL Co by the way. What POSSIBLE cause could we have in the Middle East? Unrest, the cause was and is unrest. The Defense Contractors make billions off of the unrest.
For me knowing that was enough, we were and are sending people into a War as civilians, why? the last major MEGA outsourcings, are with the Government. "Go On Take the money and Run" Are these souls reported on the nightly news? no Do these families get benefits for life? no Do these families get bleeding edge care? no
Yes, I did it one day, I just left CEO Land, the inner circle. Yes I got up and walked away. It is an exciting, drunken, drugged experience. It is wonderful there, and I mean that, every word of it. So clicking my heels, to go home, was nauseating, frightening, and scary. No more posh, we weren’t' posh before, no more serfs bowing to my every command (that is REALLY how it felt sometimes)
I was not the CEO, but close enough to know the how, what, where and why of it all. Close enough to taste the drug called money, dripping in the gravy of power. Close enough to know I liked it there, no I LOVED it there.
$15,000 for one dinner? Nothing vendor 1 paid
$500,000 boats as bribes? Nothing vendor 2 offered
$250,000 for a trip? Bring them all, sure you can bring your wife!
You can call up a company like General Electric and demand (yes demand) money, THAT is power.
See your CEO doesn’t think about you, they think women on welfare are lazy, they actually told me that. They think that low paid people are not ambitious enough, told me that one directly too.
Know what I told them? 25 years ago I was on Welfare, with 2 small children, making 13,000 year. Did I forget? No.
Well maybe for a while.
Then I walked away. I couldn’t’ stomach it anymore. I know who you are, and I know your secrets. I know why you want war, and why you would settle for peace. I know why and when you will stop, not long now is it, huh. You're going to retire, and then you don't care, housing costs need to come down, the company won't be paying for your home anymore. Your housekeeper, gardener, driver, you may have to do without one or 2 (the driver I’ll wager)
So why did I leave? All that power, all that money, and I made my fair share, and I walked. I must have gotten 40 calls when I demoted myself, 45 emails, all telling me that this was the end of my career,(no shyte brilliant eh)
It is hard to re adjust back to normality, not money wise, I don’t’ have to do that, but the power, I miss the power.
Just ask any of your candidates about CEO Land, they live there. Ask them the last time they worried about having enough money for food. Worried that the car wouldn't start. ASK
They most likely can not tell you. We elect the rich, and forget the poor.