William Koch (THE William Koch) wants to 'connect' with me.
That's right. Koch, of the family that's destroyed America as we know it, found me on LinkedIn this morning. He sent me an invitation. (Well, his Bot did.) (He's the white guy.)
(NOTE: As it happens, it wasn't THAT Koch after all. Please see my update below. But that really doesn't change anything.)
You know, maybe -- had he so generously extended his hand of friendship in 2008 -- we could have gone sailing together and shared a nice bottle of Champagne Krug Vintage Brut.
And I could have asked him if he could keep the owners of my newspaper from ending up declaring bankruptcy, throwing thousands of employees under the bus nationwide over a decade.
And also shifting the bus into reverse, and running them over again and again.
Who knows? Perhaps I could even have persuaded him to advise our CEO NOT TO STOP PENSION PAYMENTS to employees THE VERY SAME YEAR she received a $500,000 bonus (and her CFO a $250,000 bonus) for "successful restructuring of the company."
Especially when you consider she and the other top staff’s salaries had increased 30% just one year before.
AND when you consider that at the very same time, investor source SEEKING ALPHA was reporting the corporation was "burning the furniture to save the house."
The timing just seemed unwise.
Surely, a successful businessman like Mr. Koch understands that greed doesn't pay, and could have explained this to her.
But maybe she WAS doing the right thing. Because -- only a couple of months after she got that bonus -- destiny smiled on her once again. Her corporation chose to give her ANOTHER token of appreciation: $655,000 in company stock.
They said they felt she was undercompensated.
I was still at the paper then. We had finished our furloughs. It was my fourth year of fighting nausea and palpitations each and every morning on my drive to work. You never knew if today was the day that HR would meet you at the front door, holding a cardboard box full of your stuff. And I would have another four years to go.
Good times.
But a CEO works hard, and I'm happy for her that the company recognized this.
Yet, even as they were giving her money (lots and lots of money), the strategy didn't seem like it was being very effective. Because the business just kept on LOSING money (lots and lots of money). And people. It was weird.
In fact, just this March, the corporation announced it's shutting down its Medical Retirement
Accounts this year -- keeping the vested benefits of all of its current employees.
BECAUSE WE'RE A FAMILY.
That hardly seems fair. But when you're sacrificing everything you have to save your company, you do what you have to do. To survive in today's business world, everyone has to do their fair share.
Anyway, my gut reaction was to reject Koch's invitation. But now I’m thinking I might accept it.
I mean, he’s a very influential guy. Maybe he can pull some strings to keep me from losing my Disability and my health care.
And speaking of health care, an update on that shit tomorrow.
Mary E. Junck, CEO of Lee Enterprises Inc., received $1,893,746 in compensation in 2016.
Quadriq has included Lee Enterprises on its list of “30 COMPANIES THAT MAY DISAPPEAR IN 2017.”
Thursday, Jun 22, 2017 · 8:17:27 AM +00:00 · TeeBryanToo
UPDATE: MISTAKEN IDENTITY.
Well, Jumpin' Jehoshaphat. I do believe I have the wrong Wealthy William Koch.
Finnegan05 asked the question in the comments below. Then FG followed up:
FG
Jun 21 · 11:09:22 PM
This guy has nothing to do with Koch brothers. Just some random guy with the same name. And you’re claiming you were a journalist??
Truth is important to me. That's kind of why I got into the biz.
So for future reference, folks, by all means -- if you see I've screwed something up, let me know. If you don't tell me, the error will remain, people will be laughing, and I won't know. It will be like walking around with a piece of toilet paper stuck to my shoe.
Also for future reference, I can do without the extra helping of patronization. It's unnecessary, and I've been through more than you can imagine the last few years -- so it's really unappreciated as well.
In answer to what sounded like a question, no, FG (who apparently published your third and final diary over a year ago?), I'm not “claiming to be a journalist,” you silly goof.
I WAS a journalist, for over 30 years. When I wasn’t in a newsroom, I was in PR, but I always had a side writing and editing business.
If you’re so inclined, you can check me out on LinkedIn just like the wrong Mr. Koch did.
You can see the newspaper staffs I’ve been part of, the over 20 publications I’ve written for, the three books I’ve published and my list of awards. Amazingly (and I can’t believe this myself), in all those years covering everything from crime and courts to local government to education to social issues to human interest pieces, I never had to run a correction.
I’m still a journalist, just unpaid. I blog when I can, but I’m now disabled with a chronic illness. I’m not eating or sleeping with this whole health bill clusterfuck going on. This column was just a lark to help me focus on something else for a while.
I will clarify up top, and I don’t want to ruin this poor guy’s life. But you may have missed the point of the entire piece. The name “Koch” made me think of corporatism, which made me think of my former corporation. And THAT’S what the piece is about.
Last, just so you can rest assured I don’t simply pull stuff from my ass, here was my thought process: