02-19-2025, 05:51 AM
Thank you for sharing Ms. Wao. I am sorry you were treated that way. No one deserves to be treated like that.
One of the partners in the law firm I worked for was also a partner with a venture capitalist firm that invested money to allow various companies to buy out other companies, similar to your situations.
One day he calls me into his office and asks me to attend this one rather large construction company's Board Meeting as his proxy. His venture capital firm had invested heavily into this company. He told me to just be there to represent him and if any matter came to a vote to vote my "conscience."
So, I go to this meeting expecting it to be just boring stuff when during the meeting the Chairman and President of the company is directing a division manager of one of their operations to lay off people and reduce head count due to them having a revenue decline. This particular company was "self-insured" for its employees' health insurance program. The Chairman directs the division manager to lay off the "older employees" as they are more susceptible to heart attacks and strokes that could cost the company millions of dollars.
Before I could even blink an eye - and even digest what the Chairman just said, the division manager retorted right back at the Chairman, "well you better resign immediately! I mean you're already 66 years old and the stress and responsibility of running this company must be so tremendous that could cause you to have a massive heart attack or even a stroke - and we could be out millions!"
Believe it or not, the Chairman died of a massive heart attack at his desk two months later. The division manager was named the new Chairman and President.
He bought back the investment my boss had put into that company one year later.
Unfortunately, the old Chairman's ways of thinking are still way too prevalent today and are on full display right now.
One of the partners in the law firm I worked for was also a partner with a venture capitalist firm that invested money to allow various companies to buy out other companies, similar to your situations.
One day he calls me into his office and asks me to attend this one rather large construction company's Board Meeting as his proxy. His venture capital firm had invested heavily into this company. He told me to just be there to represent him and if any matter came to a vote to vote my "conscience."
So, I go to this meeting expecting it to be just boring stuff when during the meeting the Chairman and President of the company is directing a division manager of one of their operations to lay off people and reduce head count due to them having a revenue decline. This particular company was "self-insured" for its employees' health insurance program. The Chairman directs the division manager to lay off the "older employees" as they are more susceptible to heart attacks and strokes that could cost the company millions of dollars.
Before I could even blink an eye - and even digest what the Chairman just said, the division manager retorted right back at the Chairman, "well you better resign immediately! I mean you're already 66 years old and the stress and responsibility of running this company must be so tremendous that could cause you to have a massive heart attack or even a stroke - and we could be out millions!"
Believe it or not, the Chairman died of a massive heart attack at his desk two months later. The division manager was named the new Chairman and President.
He bought back the investment my boss had put into that company one year later.
Unfortunately, the old Chairman's ways of thinking are still way too prevalent today and are on full display right now.