Last night, I made some caustic comments about Whole Foods CEO John Mackey and his alter-ego that hung out on the internet pretending to be a stock promoter (as opposed to pretending to be a 14 year-old bisexual girl, which would probably have gotten him a pass in the media).
I also called for his head, and postulated that pressure from regulators and the board of directors might actually send him packing.
Well, it's good to see that members of the Commentariat who are wiser than I are saying the same thing. The Epicurean Dealmaker just excorciated Mr Mackey over this:
Among other provocative adjectives, I variously called Mr. Mackey an idiot, a moron, a fool, and a doofus. Now, however, after reading the latest revelations of Mr. Mackey's extracurricular activities on the internet, I feel I owe you Dear Readers a clarification:John Mackey is a putz.
* * *
Note to Whole Foods' (absentee?) Board of Directors: As all sailors used to know, it is not wise to allow a loose cannon to carom about a ship in motion, as it tends to have rather destructive effects on those boat parts and human limbs with which it comes into contact. The best solution, if you cannot tie the cannon down, is to toss it overboard. Need I say more?
It's worth noting that TED took John Mackey out behind the woodshed nearly a month ago over a separate, equally misguided error in judgement. Oddly enough, I missed this the first time:
The Epicurean Dealmaker: Ay! Whataya? Stupid?
So we learned with interest this morning from The Wall Street Journal that the culprit in this surprising drama is none other than Whole Foods' CEO John Mackey. Apparently, this idiot had the temerity, the stupidity, or the sheer knuckleheadedness (all related ailments) to make the government's case against his proposed acquisition of Wild Oats for them.
...
*** We will now take a brief intermission to allow the corporate lawyers in the audience to wipe down their keyboards and go change their shirts, after they spit their morning coffee all over themselves in reaction to the preceding paragraph. Thanks to the rest of you for your patience.
***What a moron. (Perhaps Carl Icahn was right about corporate CEOs. This one certainly appears to be a prime specimen.)
Eddy Elfbein of Crossing Wall Street has even gone to the trouble of assembling Rahodeb's greatest hits into a single post, for your reading enjoyment:
Crossing Wall Street: July 12, 2007 Rahodeb Greatest Hits
#2:
I like Mackey's haircut. I think he looks cute! If his hair bothers you now you should have seen what it looked like 10 years ago! The guy was/is clearly into alternative lifestyles and is one of Paul Ray's Cultural Creatives I outlined in my 2 posts to Hedge. You must not patronize any of WFMI's stores. Tatoos, piercings, unusual dress, and interesting haircuts are everywhere in the stores. In comparison, Mackey looks like a model for Brooks Brothers!
I also called for his head, and postulated that pressure from regulators and the board of directors might actually send him packing.
Well, it's good to see that members of the Commentariat who are wiser than I are saying the same thing. The Epicurean Dealmaker just excorciated Mr Mackey over this:
Among other provocative adjectives, I variously called Mr. Mackey an idiot, a moron, a fool, and a doofus. Now, however, after reading the latest revelations of Mr. Mackey's extracurricular activities on the internet, I feel I owe you Dear Readers a clarification:John Mackey is a putz.
* * *
Note to Whole Foods' (absentee?) Board of Directors: As all sailors used to know, it is not wise to allow a loose cannon to carom about a ship in motion, as it tends to have rather destructive effects on those boat parts and human limbs with which it comes into contact. The best solution, if you cannot tie the cannon down, is to toss it overboard. Need I say more?
It's worth noting that TED took John Mackey out behind the woodshed nearly a month ago over a separate, equally misguided error in judgement. Oddly enough, I missed this the first time:
The Epicurean Dealmaker: Ay! Whataya? Stupid?
So we learned with interest this morning from The Wall Street Journal that the culprit in this surprising drama is none other than Whole Foods' CEO John Mackey. Apparently, this idiot had the temerity, the stupidity, or the sheer knuckleheadedness (all related ailments) to make the government's case against his proposed acquisition of Wild Oats for them.
...
*** We will now take a brief intermission to allow the corporate lawyers in the audience to wipe down their keyboards and go change their shirts, after they spit their morning coffee all over themselves in reaction to the preceding paragraph. Thanks to the rest of you for your patience.
***What a moron. (Perhaps Carl Icahn was right about corporate CEOs. This one certainly appears to be a prime specimen.)
Eddy Elfbein of Crossing Wall Street has even gone to the trouble of assembling Rahodeb's greatest hits into a single post, for your reading enjoyment:
Crossing Wall Street: July 12, 2007 Rahodeb Greatest Hits
#2:
I like Mackey's haircut. I think he looks cute! If his hair bothers you now you should have seen what it looked like 10 years ago! The guy was/is clearly into alternative lifestyles and is one of Paul Ray's Cultural Creatives I outlined in my 2 posts to Hedge. You must not patronize any of WFMI's stores. Tatoos, piercings, unusual dress, and interesting haircuts are everywhere in the stores. In comparison, Mackey looks like a model for Brooks Brothers!
Oh dear. What are you supposed to do with someone as thoughtless as Mr Mackey? My vote is to make an example of him.
*Flogosphere is not a typo, by the way.
5 comments:
Nice blog. Check out mine at StreetBlabber.com
That Mackey's behavior was irresponsible is without doubt. Whether it was also criminal is the issue. Mackey deliberately used his anonymous attacks to hurt his competitor, and likely to drive down the value of a stock Whole Foods would try to acquire.
Will the blogosphere's defenders of transparency rush to condemn this unethical behavior by a supposedly "good guy company" with the same fervor that was directed against other larger corporations? Don't you think Wal-Mart's "flogging across America" was pretty tame by comparison?
More at Force for Good: http://jon8332.typepad.com/force_for_good/
Jon Harmon
www.forceforgoodcom.com
Um, you said that already Jon. Remember?
Balderdash. So what. I like Whole Foods--the service, the quality of foods, and, yes, the atmosphere.
I can buy fresh Whole Foods or Kroger "Old Foods." Example: gladiolus at $3.99 (fresh) at Whole Foods at $3.33 (on the verge of decay) at Kroger.
Let me say: fresh is worth $.66.
More bad news for Mr. Mackey. It seems that Whole Foods employees from the states who were sent to the new Kennsington store in London on assignment were instructed to misrepresent their status as visiting workers and instead claim observer status in order to avoid the hefty work permit required by UK immigration. The problem is not all workers claimed the same status, yet all filled the same niche as temporary workers. I don't know who is in charge of the London stores but it can't look good for corporate headquarters in Austin
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