Corporate Gossip

Latest Episodes:

Enron Rules May 05, 2023

Show notes

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This is a true Corporate Gossip Exclusive: The ONLY comparative exploration of Enron and Vanderpump Rules.

On a summer day in 2012 in a restaurant garden in Weho, waitress Schena Shay confronts Housewife Brandi Glanville about the rumors of infidelity surrounding Brandi's husband, Eddie Cibrian. Narratively, this scene breaks the seam between the women of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and the servers who tend to them. And television's crown jewel is born: Vanderpump Rules.

Few know that there was another cosmic seam that ripped at the same moment, and merged two dimensions along thematic parallels: cheating, fraud, topless bars, uppers, women's rights, and women's wrongs. If you're a Vanderpump girlie who wants to get into Enron or an Enron bro who wants to get into Vanderpump - this is ENRON RULES!

We explore the Enron collapse by meeting each of the main players and following them throughout the Enron story. We'll start with the villains who commanded the corporate clusterfuck and then meet the heroes who had the guts to defy them.

This episode also features our DAD! @Jeffplatsky

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Hosts: Becca Platsky (Becca@nitetoast.com) Adam Platsky (Adam@nitetoast.com)

Produced by: Michael Albanese @bigmanmike

Timestamps / Cast of characters:

6:00 - Introducing our DAD, the original corporate gossiper!

10:00ish - The Enron Scandal as told through the eys of the villains and the heroes:

The Villains:

Enron CEO Ken Lay aka Tom Schwartz

Enron COO / CEO Jeff Skilling aka Jax Taylor

Enron CFO Andy Fastow aka Tom Sandoval

Bonus Villain! The Analysts aka Ken Todd and Lisa Vanderpump

The Heroes:

Enron Whistleblower Sherron Watkins aka Kristen Doute

Enron Whistleblower Margaret Ceconi aka Lala Kent

Fortune Journalist Bethany McLean aka Schena Shay

Links:

How Enron Blew It

The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron (Book)

The Smartest Guys in the Room (Movie)

You're Wrong About: Enron (Podcast)

JUST DESERTS? / A year ago, Francine Cavanaugh tossed a pie at Jeffrey Skilling for gouging Californians now the former Enron CEO is under fire in Washington

Jack Welch & GE: Daddy Issues Apr 28, 2023

Show notes

A SUPERSIZED EPISODE!! Two pods in one!!!

Jack Welch is our collective Corporate Villain origin story. Potentially the most famous American CEO, Welch, like so many of the leaders we cover on this pod, possesses a dangerous combination of ruthlessness and incompetency. Adam and Becca trace his meteoric rise and salacious downfall before passing the reins of turd mountain (GE) to a series of doomed successors. Our apologies in advance to the fine people of Massachusets for our repeated unsuccessful attempts at a Boston accent.

P.S. John Flannery if you're reading this right now we love you please come on the pod <3333

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Tiktok: @corporategossippod

Hosts: Becca Platsky (Becca@nitetoast.com) Adam Platsky (Adam@nitetoast.com)

Produced by: Michael Albanese @bigmanmike

Links:

How Jack Welch's Reign at G.E. Gave Us Elon Musk's Twitter Feed

Was Jack Welch the Greatest C.E.O. of His Day—or the Worst?

Jack Welch: Managerial Genius Who Made One Disastrous Mistake

Harvard Editor Faces Revolt Over Handling of Welch Story

Pic of Welch and Suzy making out

Former GE CEO Jeff Immelt on his controversial legacy: 'I don't want to hide'

GE Cuts Larry Culp's 2022 Pay After Shareholder Protest

Corrections:

GE is still the largest manufacturer of jet engines. Rolls Royce is #2 in the industry.

Subway: Never go against the fahmily Apr 14, 2023

Show notes

If Theresa Giudice opened a mediocre fast casual sandwich shop it would look like Subway restaurants. Founded in part by a 17 year old from the Bronx named Fred Deluca, Subway would become the world's largest fast-food chain. But while Deluca's family was raking in that sweet meatball money, their franchisees were in honey ham hell. Once the sandwich king, Subway now faces serious lawsuits and FTC investigations amid dwindling sales. How did this chain, known for its "definitely 100% real, seriously guys I promise it really is tuna" sandwiches tumble to the bottom of the food chain? Find out on this episode of Corporate Gossip!

Don't forget to rate and review this podcast!

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Tiktok: @corporategossippod

Hosts: Becca Platsky (Becca@nitetoast.com) Adam Platsky (Adam@nitetoast.com)

Produced by: Michael Albanese @bigmanmike

Timestamps:

1:50 - Fred Deluca opens the first Subway with $1,000 and a bag of tuna and quickly realizes that making franchise royalties is wayyyyy easier than making a hot italian sandwhich.

5:15 - Deluca is Tiny Time vibes with a Scrooge personality.

7:40 - The most haunted calendar of all time is created by Deluca and his colleagues. They literally take pictures of themselves shirtless around the office. Deluca is Mr. January.

12:30 - Subway becomes the LuLaRoe of fast food restaurants.

16:00 - Wokeup this mornin' and I got myself a sub.... Subway's hitmen set their targets on francisees.

22:30 - J*red F*gle, I don't think I need to say anymore.

26:00 - After his death, Deluca gives his estranged wife the ultimate anniversary present... half of a dying sandwhich company!

31:50 - Subway's requirement for a new CEO? Sharing the majority of the founder's DNA.

37:00 - You know what they say about mixing business with family? It literally always works every time! You should def do it!

40:00 - Subway spends millions of dollars on a rebrand and a ton of celebrity influencers but their sandwhiches still suck.

44:20 - Subway's future looks as grey as their tuna.

45:45 - Find out what fast food restaurant you are based on your zodiac sign.

Links:

SubCon 2023! (Subway Convention)

Subway cofounder Fred DeLuca ruled the company like a demigod and pursued wives of franchisees. How one man sent the world's biggest fast-food chain into a tailspin

Subway does franchisee damage control after John Oliver segment: memos

Subway Got Too Big. Franchisees Paid a Price

Inside the 2 secretive billionaire families that own Subway, as they face backlash from furious franchisees

Judge rules Subway can be sued over claims that its tuna sandwiches contain other fish species or animal products

New Subway sandwich menu items taste just as vile as the old ones

What fast food are you based on your zodiac

Fixing Capitalism in 60 Minutes or Less or Your Money Back with Nathan Macintosh Apr 07, 2023

Show notes

This episode is Not Safe For Work / Your Harvard MBA class

Professional Canadian... sorry, Professional COMEDIAN, Nathan Macintosh joins Becca to fix capitalism. It's so easy it literally took us less than an hour guys. We discuss a few interesting proposals to address capitalism's systemic problems, AND plan the first EVER Corporate Gossip Cruise / Davos for the rest of us.

Don't forget to rate and review this podcast!

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Tiktok: @corporategossippod

Hosts: Becca Platsky (Becca@nitetoast.com) Adam Platsky (Adam@nitetoast.com)

Produced by: Michael Albanese @bigmanmike

Timestamps:

10:00 You Better Work Betch: Full employment guarantee

20:00 Go back in time and destroy Reagan!

31:00 YOU can get a house without waiting for your parents to unalive

42:00 A cult classic: The Four Day Work Week!

Links:

Nathan Macintosh: Money Never Wakes

National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 (Aka the Works Progress Administration)

The Accountable Capitalism Act of 2018

Investment Firms Aren't Buying All the Houses. But They Are Buying the Most Important Ones

Opinion: Bernie Sanders is right about capitalism

Are you there Herb? It's me, Southwest Mar 31, 2023

Show notes

Join Becca and Adam on a journey that starts in in a smoky Texas hotel lobby in 1967. We'll pass trough a decomposing sportatorium off the Dallas freeway in 1992 and end at a contentious company sponsored JoJo concert in 2022. Once a shining star in the skies over the Texas Plains, Southwest experienced a slow and then sudden descent after the departure of it's distinctive founder. Executive would try to repair the damage, but for many it was "Too Little, Too Late."

Don't forget to rate and review this podcast!

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Tiktok: @corporategossippod

Hosts: Becca Platsky (Becca@nitetoast.com) Adam Platsky (Adam@nitetoast.com)

Produced by: Michael Albanese @bigmanmike

Links:

Video of the Malice in Dallas

Southwest Airlines Engine Explodes in Flight, Killing a Passenger

Column: The guilty parties evading blame for the Southwest meltdown are its board members

Southwest store

Southwest Airlines Faces Tough Questions From Senators

Video of Pilots walking out of the Southwest Employee Rally

SVB: Silly Con Valley Boss Bois Mar 24, 2023

Show notes

It's a bank run, dummies! The SVB collapse is true corporate gossip catnip, and we couldn't resist bringing you this ~very special~ episode about the biggest corporate shitshow of the year (so far). Aaron Cohn, business professor and scorned ex-lover of venture capital, joins Becca to recap the bank's meltdown and subsiquent VC temper tantrum. Aaron is fresh off the plane from SXSW and ready to spill all the tea on venture capital. It's a little bit cringe, a little bit spooky, but mostly a good reminder to never trust a billionare and that NOTHING MATTERS ANYMORE :)

Don't forget to rate and review this podcast!

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Check out our reading list

Tiktok: @corporategossippod

Hosts: Becca Platsky (Becca@nitetoast.com) Adam Platsky (Adam@nitetoast.com)

Produced by: Michael Albanese @bigmanmike

Links:

The Incredible Tantrum Venture Capitalists Threw Over Silicon Valley Bank

Silicon Valley Bank Fails After Run on Deposits

EXCLUSIVE: Aloha suckers! Silicon Valley Bank's failed CEO Gregory Becker escapes to his $3.1million Hawaiian hideaway days after being fired, leaving the chaos of the collapse in the dust

Boeing Blows It Mar 17, 2023

Show notes

Boeing is the quintessential american company. For decades it was the destination of choice for America's brightest minds in engineering. Pilots revered the institution, "if it aint Boeing, I'm not going," they'd often say. But by the turn of the century, Boeing's engineering supremacy was replaced with a relentless devotion to shareholder value. Passengers... you can kick rocks! Boeing execs have got a company to plunder in the name of shareholder value maximization!!!

Don't forget to rate and review this podcast!

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Support the pod by buying us a coffee

Check out our reading list

Tiktok: @corporategossippod

Hosts: Becca Platsky (Becca@nitetoast.com) Adam Platsky (Adam@nitetoast.com)

Produced by: Michael Albanese @bigmanmike

Timestamps:

9:30 The airline deregulation act: L or W? Becca's take will SHOCK you!

16:30 Boeing catches shareholder value maximiziation-itis and Boeing fish starts to rot from the nose down

20:00 Boeing execs are giving big Dr. Evil energy

27:00 Capitalism Kills - the Boeing 737 Max Crashes

30:00 Boeing: "Shareholders are my main chick and the flying public is my sidepiece"

35:30 The FAA & Boeing are like the Abby Lee Dance Company and the Candy Apple Dancers

33:00 The aftermath of the Boeing 737 Max crashes Spoiler alert - Boeing leadership = Dickless losers and a rare Ted Cruz W

49:30 If life couldn't get worse for the plane crash victims… here comes Tom Girrardi and all the other vultures

54:30 Latest updates on Boeing

Links:

Read Flying Blind: The 737 Max Tragedy and the Fall of Boeing

Watch Flight / Risk on Amazon

Report on Boeing 787 Dreamliner Battery Flaws Finds Lapses at Multiple Points

Final report on Boeing 737 MAX crash sparks dispute over pilot error

Boeing Reaches $200 Million Settlement With Regulators Over Its 737 Max

Families of Boeing Crash Victims Can Challenge U.S. Settlement, Judge Rules

Whistle-blower settles case (Gary Eastman)

House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure members

The Senate Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations, and Innovation members

Ozy Media: Corporate Catfish Dec 30, 2022

Show notes

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Carlos Watson has it all: an Ivy League pedigree, an electric personality, and a media empire called "Ozy." There's only one problem… Watson is a prolific bullshit artist. When he and his co-founder are caught catfishing Goldman Sachs executives, his empire begins to crumble and his throne of lies is exposed. The Ozy story is truly wild and includes feuds with Sharon Osbourne, a Fyre Fest knockoff, and millennial-era side bangs!

We're on Youtube!!

Support the pod by buying us a coffee

Check out our reading list

Tiktok: @corporategossippod

Hosts: Becca Platsky (Becca@nitetoast.com) Adam Platsky (Adam@nitetoast.com)

Produced by: Michael Albanese @bigmanmike

Vignette edited by: Becky Nanns Beckysaysitall.com

Timestamps:

03:33 - Ozy Media background and Becca's side bang regret

10:15 - Ozy becomes the most popular website of all time!! More readers than the Bible!!!

15:40 - Carlos Watson's catfish practice with A&E

24:15 - The Ozy Media Fyre Fest that almost was

31:25 - Don't F* with Sharon Osbourne

33:54 - Carlos Watson: World's Best Boss

38:00 - Carlos & Samir catfish Goldman Sachs & the Ozy downfall

44:35 - Ozy 2.0: The Return of the Carlosfish

50:50 - Takeaways

Links:

Goldman Sachs, Ozy Media and a $40 Million Conference Call Gone Wrong

Ozy Built a TV Show on a False Claim, Says Its Former Producer

How Ozy Fest Was About To Become The Next Fyre Festival — Until A Heat Wave (And Insurance Claim) Bailed Them Out

18-hour days and panic attacks: Former Ozy staffers allege an abusive environment

Under Armour: Business Bros Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

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Under Armour is what happens when a group of perpetually rowdy frat bros is at the helm of a multi-billion dollar company. Starting with a single sewing machine in his grandma's basement, Ken Plank grew the UA brand to market dominance over two decades, and then oversaw its demise over two years. This story has it all: A+ list athletes, strip club scandals, Twitter PR disasters, adulterous adventures on a private jet, and Becca's favorite: light accounting fraud!

We're on Youtube!!

Support the pod by buying us a coffee

Check out our reading list

Tiktok: @corporategossippod

Hosts: Becca Platsky (Becca@nitetoast.com) Adam Platsky (Adam@nitetoast.com)

Produced by: Michael Albanese @bigmanmike

Vignette written by: Becky Nanns Beckysaysitall.com

Timestamps:

06:16 - Kevin Plank creates the first moisture-wicking athletic T-shirt and founds Under Armour from his Grandma's basement. The company, with the help of lucrative movie cameos and athletic partnerships, is valued at $157m by 2005 and grows to $17B 10 years later.

15:34 - Under Armour produces a series of uggo shoes that are blasted on Twitter.

20:02 - As Plank becomes increasingly distracted with his side hustles, UA sales slump. The UA team employ a series of questionable accounting practices to hide the truth, and their actions result in a $9m class-action shareholder lawsuit.

27:00 - HR revokes one of the c-suite's favorite perks: free strip clubs. After that, it's one buzzkill after another for UA executives.

35:00 - Turns out the culture at the top of Under Armour wasn't exactly... conducive to not being a huge dirtbag.

43:15 - Has your boss ever brought his paramour - sorry - "strategic advisor" to a business meeting? If so, you might be working for Ken Plank!!

49:00 - Where does UA stand today?

Links:

Steph Curry's new Under Armour sneakers lit Twitter on fire with Dad jokes, memes

Under Pressure at Under Armour, CEO Says His Eye Is on the Ball

Under Armour founder sold $138 million in stock during time period company allegedly misled investors about slowing sales

Under Armour's #MeToo Moment: No More Strip Clubs on Company Dime

Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank 'was allegedly having an affair with MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle and sought her advice over that of his board while flying her around on private jet'

Disney Drama Kings (Part 2) Dec 09, 2022

Show notes

Hi, Hi, Hiya! The Disney Drama continues as Michael Eisner hires his Hollywood buddy, super-agent Michel Ovitz, as president of the company. 434 days later he's fired and a contentious lawsuit brings the executive suite to court where Eisner alleges that Ovitz was acting like a jerk at his Mom's funeral (seriously... you can't make this stuff up).

We then meet up with Bob Iger in 2022 as he's relentlessly trash talking Bob Chapeck over lunches in LA. Ultimately, a fairy grants him his wish and he's returned to the throne at Disney HQ. Will King Bob I be the hero Disney needs? Find out on this episode of Corporate Gossip!

P.S. We make a lot of Heavyweights references in this episode. You can watch it on most streaming platforms.

We're on Youtube!!

Support the pod by buying us a coffee

Check out our reading list

Tiktok: @corporategossippod

Hosts: Becca Platsky (Becca@nitetoast.com) Adam Platsky (Adam@nitetoast.com)

Produced by: Michael Albanese @bigmanmike

Timestamps:

01:13 Michael Ovitz, hollywood honcho, becomes president of Walt Disney for 434 days

06:40 Bob Iger (aka Tony Perkis) takes over summer camp. Attention campers. Lunch has been canceled due to lack of hustle. Deal with it.

11:45 Bob Iger hastily departs Disney seconds before Covid hits the states and puts Bob Chapek at the helm for less than two years. After trash talking his successor for months, Bob Iger returns! Time to wake up, campers! Today is evaluation day. The key word here is 'value.' Do you have any? Not yet! But before summer's over, this camp's gonna be filled with skinny winners!

15:00 What's next for Iger & Disney. If the main players in this story were characters in Heavyweights, who would they be?

Links:

Ovitz and Eisner: A Kids' Story

Disney's Robert Iger Loomed Over Bob Chapek After Ceding CEO Role, Creating Tensions

The Ride Of A Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Bob Iger

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