Modern Vespa

Never heard of him but on reading that he seems like your typical unscrupulous businessman.

I attempted to weigh in on this thread yesterday but walked away.

Here is a link to the Reuters article on his life and passing.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/famed-italian-dealmaker-piaggio-ceo-colaninno-dies-2023-08-19/

It describes how in his business life he turned around a number of failing companies but left a mixed corporate legacy.

While it is impolite to speak ill of the dead I would say that there are some people who lived their lives in such a way as to invite this type of commentary.

I was just watching the TV show on Netflix called "Painkiller". I am very familiar with the Purdue pharma story and watching the TV show cannot help but notice they don't mention McKinsey Institute at all.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story or McKinsey I will summarize. McKinsey are consultants who will for a fee analyze and suggest ways to optimize profits in your business. Accenture is a competitor who does the same thing. They hire MBA's and many consider it a stepping stone to further their career as a good thing to have on the resume. Other people consider companies like this the scum of the earth and MBA's to be the downfall of our society completely screwing it up for future generations but hey if you can make money...

The folks at McKinsey were the ones responsible for what the TV show describes as Sacklers ideas to maximize the business and change the perception of heroin and morphine by calling it oxycontin and saying it wasn't addictive or even bad for you. Under McKinsey's guidance Purdue pharma hired a crew of attractive young people to go to doctor's around the country and push the pills making a lot more money for the doctors and Purdue pharma.

I don't think there are too many people who actually think this was a good thing. I think most people, the great majority of folks consider this to be evil. A shining example of how in the pursuit of making money society and the planet in general is harmed.

We are not supposed to talk politics here and I am trying to avoid politics speaking mainly about economics. I think it sometimes bleeds over into politics but I am trying to focus on the business economics side. Again I think the great majority can agree that what Purdue pharma did was wrong and the legalities of what they did are still being determined by the courts. There was something in the news just within the last few days about part of the bankruptcy settlement to protect the money that the Sackler's "earned".

I don't think it wrong to describe the Sackler fortune as ill gotten gains and the reuters article describes Colaninno as the architect of the worlds largest hostile takeover of Telecom Italia in 1999. Maybe not the same level of evil as the Sacklers but as someone who was playing at the same game. Hard for me to believe that you could play that game and be successful (financially) and not be culpable.

Is it illegal to be ruthless in business and financially successful? No just ask the Sackler's. Is it wrong to bad mouth the dead? Depends on the circumstances and the individuals understanding of the way of the world. I think I understand what Bobo was alluding to perfectly. Colaninno was one of them and probably does not deserve to be respected even now that he has passed.