by Paul Pertusi
Life is unjust. Carl Icahn is arrogant, nefarious, and righteous. Such conflicting personality traits suggest that some Shakespearean tragedy lurks around the corner, but he has avoided it thus far. A close friend of mine attended Harvard with Bill Ackman's wife and remains good friends with her to this day. From everything he tells me, Bill is a solid citizen. A bit awkward, as he eschews entertainment and socializing for 10-K and 10-Q re-reads, but that's about as far as his bad behavior goes. Mr. Ackman's thesis that Herbalife is a ponzi scheme, will very likely prove correct in my humble opinion. From everything I know about him, I would not bet against Bill Ackman. Carl Icahn's behavior on CNBC and his public treatment of Bill Ackman were a blatant attempt to dis-credit Mr. Ackman and to exacerbate a short-squeeze in Herbalife's stock which would provide obvious benefit to Mr. Icahn. It was a sleazy attempt by Mr. Icahn to put a couple extra bucks in his pocket and to rekindle an old vendetta with Mr. Ackman. I can assure you that Icahn's knowledge of Herbalife as a company is approximately .000001% of Mr. Ackmans.
My son and I have been watching movies on Amazon Prime lately. "How to Train Your Dragon" is a favorite, as the story is a wonderful metaphor on developing relationships with our supposed enemies. The presumed feckless young Viking named Hiccup teaches his village that dragons are not to be feared or destroyed, but befriended, cared for, and partnered with in their struggles for survival. In the end it turns out that those fire-breathing, Viking eating, supposedly violent Dragons are benevolent, caring creatures, willing to provide their Viking masters with unconditional love and protection.
Why didn't I watch "How to Train Your Dragon" with my Netflix subscription or my Apple TV with the maddening miniaturized, silver remote that has made typing a search query an unbearable task? I can answer that question very clearly on Netflix. The once admired service that helped millions avoid those annoying video rental late fees, now fucks with its customers so blatantly that last year its CEO had to send out an apology letter. Netflix is worse than the restaurant that does a poor job of explaining their specials and doesn't tell you how much they cost. They provide enough bread to feed a family for a week at no charge while you wait for your meal that lacks a price tag and has zero quality assurance. We get all this free content from Netflix that we have no interest in watching, much like the videos for $3.99 at your local grocer's checkout counter. As content consumers we seek quality, access, ease of use, and price transparency. Netflix fails on all four while Amazon hits a home run in all categories.
Copyright © Paul Pertusi
