SAM: I haven't figured out how to cash in a Pulitzer Prize. There was a day when a newspaper put "Winner of Pulitzer Prize" on the front page, and people flocked to read the Pulitzer Prize story. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that that's the case today But I also think that there are scale issues. In other words, I think that if the goal is a Pulitzer, it's in the wrong place. In other words, we're not in the business of, in effect, underwriting writers for the future. We're a business that, in effect, has a bottom line. So as far as we're concerned, I think Pulitzers are terrific, but Pulitzers should be the cream on the top of the coffee. They shouldn't be the grounds. And I think there are a lot of scenarios in the newspaper industry where the entire focus is on Pulitzers. The entire focus is on becoming an international correspondent. I mean, I know that because our newspaper sent somebody to Kabul to cover the "Afghan Idol Show." Now, I know Idol is the No. 1 TV program in the world, but do my readers really want a firsthand report on what this broad looked like who won the "Afghan Idol" Show"? Is that news?

Haha, not sure what that "broad" bit was about, but otherwise, Sam, you are correct! This is just like the final season of The Wire, where the asshole editor chases Pulitzers at the expense of real local news. And you know everything on The Wire is gospel! Perhaps NYT boss Pinch Sulzberger should take Zell's advice, too:

As of last night, the entire market cap of the New York Times [Co.] was $1.2 billion. And my question to Arthur, who I think is out here someplace, is if you want to be a charitable trust, be a charitable trust. If you don't want to be a charitable trust, then you've got to focus on producing a return for investors' capital, and it's just that simple. It worked in the old days because you could be a public trust and you could do well for your shareholders because you had a monopoly, and monopolies are wonderful. I mean, I think competition is terrific, particularly for all those guys out there. Me? I like monopolies. I'm just sorry I waited 60 years to get into the newspaper industry because the 40 I missed were great.

Well by god, this gnomish asshole CEO of a debt-ridden company just summed things up once and for all. Listen to him, Pinch. (Although you may also want to note that the reason papers like the LA Times can't afford to do Pulitzer-bait investigative stories any more is because Zell has cut staff to the bone.) [Portfolio]

[The ridiculous postscript to this interview: as soon as Lipman went to the audience for questions, in came Jeff Jarvis (or is it Jim? Always get them confused) to complain about online persecution of himself. Read this, then consider this:

Hi, Jim [sic] Jarvis. Mr. Zell, first, I may speak for others here when I say I wish you would do this more often and talk publicly more often. It's great fun. I'm a journalist, and I got attacked in Salon this morning…or Slate this morning—I get them confused—for holding journalists responsible for the fate of journalists.

Meh.]

"In Los Angeles media circles the legend is told that in the 1980s, the Los Angeles Times was so fat with news, feature stories and ads that a paper thrown on the porch of actress Barbara Bain landed on—and killed—her dog. (As the Herald Examiner gleefully reported at the time.) That was then. Now the paper is featherweight..."

Nowadays it's only big enough to kill their gnomish CEO Sam Zell, if thrown hard enough.

But they're not the only newspaper to shrink: check out the Guardian, downsized in 2005. The old broadsheet version was definitely dog-killing size:
[via Matthew Hunt]

And look at tiny little Rolling Stone, the AP points out today. Could it have killed a dog, L.A. Times-style, in its bigger days? Probably not.

See that, employees? He spent all his money hiring The Eagles, so take your lawsuit and go to hell. [via Philly City Paper]

"The lawsuit filed yesterday is filled with frivolous and unfounded allegations, and I hope every partner in this company is as outraged as I am at having to spend the time and money required to defend ourselves against it. The media industry is in crisis, the advertising environment is extremely difficult and the economy is in turmoil. The overwhelming majority of our employees have taken up the challenge — they are working hard, leading by example, and devoting themselves to re-inventing our businesses by developing new and innovative products for our readers, viewers and advertisers. As a company we are attacking our problems and revolutionizing the media industry.

"This lawsuit is a mere distraction, and we will work quickly to see that
it is dismissed. It will not deter us from completing the work ahead."

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Los Angeles, CA-A class action complaint CV08-06040 was filed today against Samuel Zell, the Tribune Company, and others in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, by Joseph Cotchett and Philip Gregory of the law firm of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy on behalf of Dan Neil, Los Angeles Times Pulitzer Prize winning auto critic; Corie Brown, former Los Angeles Times wine and food writer; Henry Weinstein, founding faculty member of UC Irvine School of Law and former Los Angeles Times legal affairs writer; Myron Levin, former Los Angeles Times consumer affairs writer; Walter Roche Jr., former Los Angeles Times writer; and Jack Nelson former Los Angeles Times Washington, D.C. bureau chief on behalf of themselves and other members of a class consisting of current and former employees of the Tribune Company who have rights under the Tribune Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) or various Tribune retirement plans.

The complaint alleges that since completing his takeover of the Tribune Company in December 2007, Sam Zell's illegal and irresponsible actions and public statements have damaged the reputation and business of the company he purports to want to preserve. According to the filed complaint, through both the structure of his takeover and his subsequent conduct, Zell and his accessories have diminished the value of the employee-owned company to benefit himself and his fellow board members. It alleges further that through their destructive management and self-dealings at the expense of employees, Zell and his co-fiduciaries have repeatedly breached their fiduciary duties to beneficiaries of the Tribune Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).

Plaintiffs seek to recover all losses to the Tribune ESOP and the company caused by Defendants’ breaches of fiduciary duties. As well, Plaintiffs seek the removal of Defendants from their fiduciary positions and removal of the Tribune Board in its entirety for their ongoing dereliction of duties.

[via Romenesko]

First people thought Zell would just sell the Tribune's tower, then lease it back and keep the paper there. But no!:

But hold on. Sources said Zell, who has hired Eastdil Secured LLC to market the tower and a parking lot abutting it, is thinking big. They said Zell wants nothing better than to turn over all of Tribune Tower to a residential developer. Such an owner could use it as a Gothic ornament for new construction on the parking lot.

Sad Tribune breakdown: Nobody wants the paper. Nobody even wants the paper's building. But that parking lot is nice!

[Sun-Times]

The blog, TellZell.com, got a sympathy writeup in the NYT this weekend. And while it has some fire in it, it's ultimately a sad relic of the once-mighty newspaper industry. A recent post, for example, contains a bunch of farewell letters from Tribune staffers:

Perhaps I hid behind the smallness of my cog's place in the big machine here, or the fact that I worked in what is perhaps the best photo journalism department in the nation kept me from feeling too worried, but with the loss of talent over the last year or two and the seeming lack of any vision in regard to the future of true journalism (other then to hold to the cliff's edge for as long as possible), I feel that I need to say something, however insignificant it may be.

I'll add to the chorus of goodbyes with an adios y un dicho de mi abuelita: "No hay un mal que por un bien no viene."

The Times literally changed my life. I came here as a musician who occasionally wrote and I'm leaving as a guy looking for work as a writer (not that I, the son of a composer, could ever stop being a musician). I'm proud of having contributed to this paper.

SAD. It really is a quality blog, if you're into that sort of thing. Unfortunately its only chance of impacting Sam Zell is... well, there's no chance.

[TellZell.com]

Name: Sumner Redstone
Age: 85
Position: Chairman, National Amusements (Viacom, CBS, MTV, etc.)
What kind of old man is he?: Befuddled
Trick in staving off old age: Fights with daughters.
Key quote: "I'm gonna fight death as long as I can. I like it here. I don't want to go anywhere else"
Health threat: Face of porcelain

Name: Rupert Murdoch
Age: 77
Position: Chairman, News Corp
What kind of old man is he?: Vindictive
Trick in staving off old age: A much younger wife.
Key quote: "You can't be an outsider and be successful over 30 years without leaving a certain amount of scar tissue around the place."
Health threat: Enveloped in skin folds.

Name: Sam Zell
Age: 66
Position: Owner, Tribune Company
What kind of old man is he?: Gnomish
Trick in staving off old age: Fights with his employees.
Key quote: "Fuck you [OLD AGE!]"
Health threat: Balding

Name: Barry Diller
Age: 66
Postion: Chairman and CEO, IAC
What kind of old man is he?: Angry
Trick in staving off old age: Fights with fellow businessmen.
Key quote: "I thought they were talking about eye charts. I don't see anything full-blown." [On being called a "visionary"]
Health threat: Tooth gappage.

Name: Hugh Hefner
Age: 82
Postion: Owner, Playboy Enterprises
What kind of old man is he?: Desperately youthful
Trick in staving off old age: Parties, hordes of women, pajamas.
Key quote: “In many ways, I'm younger than I was 20 years ago."
Health threat: Priapism.

Bose’s $350 QuietComfort 3 model, introduced in 2006, has a fold-flat design for easier portability, ensuring sonic isolation as you navigate the melting pot. And the $300 QuietComfort 2 can now be augmented with a “mobile communications kit” for your cellphone.

The headline for the column is "The Silence Generation." The subhead? "QuietComfort Headphones." The "TM" is implied.

Then there's the Times' T Magazine, ostensibly about style but at heart a celebration of products and consumption itself. It followed in the footsteps of the Financial Times' shamelessly named How To Spend It, and is so fabulously profitable that it will be aped by the Wall Street Journal in the form of WSJ. magazine.

Your typical hack at an elite newspaper, one suspects, is not so much opposed to selling out to crass commercialism as he is opposed to doing so ineffectively, without an elegant sheen of respectability and fig leaf of journalistic contemplation that makes a money-grubbing endeavor so much more palatable to the writerly ego. Sales jocks could never understand off such a maneuver. They are way too honest.

In '99, it was revealed that the paper's magazine had come up with a plan to share the revenue from a special (flattering) issue about the city's Staples Center with the Staples Center, in exchange for advertising help. Which, needless to say, was a breach of the storied Chinese wall between the editorial and business sides. There was a huge uproar! Some quotes from the time:

"Something this blatant, this bizarre, something that is just so compromising - this was a monumental error," said Stanford journalism professor William Woo...

"The whole tone is, "How can I believe what I read now?' " [Times columnist Patt] Morrison said. "That hurts. Reporters don't pass bar exams; we don't get board-certified like doctors. We're hanging our asses out there everyday. For all of us, this is 10 or 20 or 30 years of our lives put in jeopardy to add another 3 cents to somebody's dividends per share."

Will there be a huge public uproar this time around? No! Because everybody in the newspaper industry knows that their business model is dying. And while they might not like it, they'll grumble quietly, or just go ahead and retire. Because we're far past the days when complaining about jaw-dropping things like this would do any good.

Mr. Michaels said that, after measuring journalists’ output, “when you get into the individuals, you find out that you can eliminate a fair number of people while eliminating not very much content.” He added that he understood that some reporting jobs naturally produce less output than others.

He said that The Los Angeles Times produced 51 pages of news for each journalist there, while the figure for two other Tribune papers, The Baltimore Sun and The Hartford Courant, is more than 300 pages.

Zell's ribald personality must seem a lot less charming to his charges now that he's wielding a large, bloody axe.

[Times, Romenesko]

In her Chavez profile, Hall did eventually, if briefly and obliquely, reference the missile charges against Chavez. She also included two sentences, near the end of her article, about Chavez's suppression of opposition media. But the article's few skeptical notes were overshadowed by the warm overall tone and Hall's smile in the accompanying picture.

The Sentinel editor has near-complete autonomy at her newspaper, per orders from CEO Sam Zell and his insane radio henchmen, who have allowed leaders at other Tribune papers similar freedom. But some buttoned-down types in Orlando are not happy with what she's done with her power.

There were the near-topless photos she ran of Ashley Dupre, call girl to former Gov. Eliot Spitzer. All well and good on, say, Gawker, but, to one disgruntled email tipster, the photos were "newsless ... but hey, digital pasties covered her nipples, so its okay, right?"

Hall also stirred local controversy by running Annie Leibovitz's semi-nude photos of Miley Cyrus alongside a front-page story about the teen star's scandalous spread in Vanity Fair.

There is, at least, a certain logic to running the Dupre and Cyrus photos. American newspapers could use more sizzle, and Hall seems intent on providing it. All well and good.

But if she's going to be the hard-charing tabloid editor, Hall should have made sure she lived up to that persona in the interveiwed she scored with Chavez, a controversial world leader especially visible to readers in South Florida. At the very least, she should not have done a complete 180 and soft-pedalled the guy.

Next time, Charlotte, consider sending your pushy photographer and cussing boss for the big sit-down. They'd undoubtedly make a feisty interview team — just the thing for a would-be controversial newspaper.

“The Daily News and U.S. News are extras for [Zuckerman]. Very serious, very expensive hobbies for Mort. He is not a dilettante, but it’s not why he is a billionaire,” Mr. Grove said. “Murdoch has ink running through his veins. The guy is the king of all media. And he is happy to own a newspaper in New York that loses money hand over fist in a way that Mort would never tolerate.”

Dear fellow Newsday employee,

Sam Zell hosted a conference call with Tribune lenders today. In the course of taking questions, he acknowledged that he has received inquiries about Newsday.

As we all know, Newsday does an excellent job of serving a very desirable marketplace of people who are highly valued by advertisers. It is not surprising that the possibility of acquiring Newsday would generate a lot of interest. Whether anything will ultimately happen as a result of these expressions of interest is not known at this time. I know this creates uncertainty; however, the people of Long Island are depending on us to stay focused on delivering them local, unique and useful news and information, such as our important investigative coverage of LI school districts' pension scandal.

If and when there is something tangible to report, I will let you know.

Ms. Jacob learned that Zell's Manufacured Home Communities (which is now called "Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc.") has a history of suing cities to make them repeal rent control laws and also they enjoy "running people out of older mobile home parks," just for the kicks. So she said as much, and then they sued her for defamation, and they lost, but now they're appealing, even though their case seems pretty thin.

So now she's writing an editorial about it. She submitted it to the Zell-owned L.A. Times, but they rejected it for some reason!

All we have to say is listen up, old people—you can whine about that 25% rent hike but you're subsidizing quality journalism. If you want to save the newspaper industry and keep that DC bureau open, you're gonna have to suck it up. It's the patriotic thing to do.

I Won't Be Sued Into Silence [Voice of San Diego]

The new radio guys at Tribune include:

• Randy Michaels, number two at Tribune
• Lee Abrams, Chief Innovation Officer, formerly of XM Satellite Radio, started last Tuesday
• Brought in over the past few days, all from radio powerhouse Clear Channel: Jerry Kerstin, Marc Chase, Steve Gable, Dean Compton

The Times reported for tomorrow's paper that Abrams' "long, rambling, excited" emails are scaring the crap out of everyone:

"If we can morph the Soul of Dylan ... with the innovation of Apple and the eccentric-all-the-way-to-the-bank of Bill Veeck, the WORLD will be a better place," he wrote in one missive.

How would Abrams improve Tribune's struggling newspaper? By composing "front pages primarily composed of colorful maps," according to the Journal.

He also wants to shake up meetings with a "'cliché buzzer,' to ring when colleagues offer tired ideas."

Abrams' boss, Michaels, is only slightly less insane. Keep in mind this man is second only to Sam Zell at Tribune. Said the Journal:

He once arrived at a radio broadcasters' conference carried on a litter and dressed in the garb of an Egyptian pharaoh to underscore in a speech how powerful consolidation would prove for radio.

Michaels is now installing pinball machines and a jukebox at Tribune corporate headquarters in Chicago. Because there's nothing like pinball when you have $12.8 billion in debt, deteriorating credit and are worried about missing payments.

There are different theories as to why Zell is bringing these radio guys in. One is that radio was once seen as a medium on the way to extinction, like newspapers are seen now, but was revived. Another is that he wants to emphasize the broadcast side of Tribune, which produces only about 25 percent of revenue but 50 percent of profit.

Times: Tough Guy in a Mean Business'

WSJ: Tribune Turns to Radio to Revive Empire

• Time Out Chicago apparently managed to convince some that their new publisher was Donald Trump.
• Hipster Book Club was pretty funny today. Our favorite post, primarily because of its use of the word "limned," is this book review by "Juniko Katutani."
• Daily Candy demonstrated an alarming sense of self-awareness today with posts, like this one offering celebrity skin flakes, that were more or less indistinguishable from their normal fare.
• The UK papers went over-the-top, with the Telegraph and the Mirror collaborating with the BBC on a "flying penguins" story that was just an ad for the BBC.

From: Talk to Sam
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 1:35 PM
Subject: Shocking Video
Partners,

I returned from out of the country this weekend to learn that one of our employees had entered a video in the Sun-Times contest designed to protest a name change of Wrigley Field.

Needless to say, I was shocked! Appalled! The video was a blatant disregard for Tribune Company policy. It demonstrated a glaring disrespect for your chairman and CEO. (I'm much better looking, clearly more agile, and I think whoever played me was singing off key.)

So, I immediately referred to the 11th commandment: Thou shalt not take oneself too seriously. And, then I shared the video with my family and friends.

Here's the link if you didn't catch it: http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-suntimes-song-contest,0,1932877.htmlstory

It's most definitely worth the watch, and it was a deft grab of the ball away from that other paper. What was their name again?

Sam

Crust, Kevin—Calendar Darling, Jill—poll Delson, Jennifer—Metro Doggrell, Glenn—Designer Fantazia, Joan—Features Furlong, Tom—National Green, Julie—Editorial pages Griggs, Greg—Ventura Hale, Liz—magazine designer Hunt, Don—Metro Kang, Connie—Metro Krikorian, Greg—Metro Kunitomi, Darrell—tour guide Levin, Myron—Metro Nazario, Sonia—project writer Neal, Ron—features designer Norwood, Robyn—Sports Piccalo, Gina—Features Pinkus, Susan—poll Rabin, Jeff—Metro

Late last month, Sam Zell said "fuck you" to a questioning journalist. When his Chicago Tribune ombudsman chastised Zell for being a jerk, Zell played the crumbling-institution-that-is-journalism card, saying, "this business has been eroding before your eyes and you're worried about my language?"

If another media CEO showed such blatant disregard for his ombudsman, there might be outrage. But Zell's utter disdain for his internal critics is somehow appealing. And if Zell's language could save journalism, there would be no need to worry. But "fuck you" is just as hollow as any other corporate slogan.

Since taking over the Tribune Company in April, Zell has acted like any other media boss. Namely, he's made job cuts.

Take the L.A. Times, which in the past few years has had more editors than Rupert Murdoch has had wives. When EIC James O'Shea was fired last month, he blamed L.A. Times publisher David Hiller and praised Zell, writing in his departing memo, "when Sam Zell [CEO of the Tribune Co.] understands how asinine the current budgetary system is, he will change it for the better, because he is a smart businessman." But of course, Zell doesn't understand how "asinine" the budgetary system is; he supported Hiller.

O'Shea's chief problem with the L.A. Times was the expectation to create worthwhile journalism with fewer journalists. But Zell doesn't have a problem with this system at all. Soon after O'Shea left, Zell cut 150 jobs from the L.A. Times.

Now Zell will be cutting 120 jobs at Newsday. At this point, it doesn't matter that Zell encourages porn and crude jokes at the office. He's still the boss man, and he'll fire you if he has to.

Obviously the media landscape is evolving. Layoffs seem, so far, inherent in the change from print to online journalism. So when Sam Zell says, "you can do your internet thing. I'm technologically infuckingcompetent" the Tribune staff should not be laughing. Because the joke is on them.

From: Knight, T. P.
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 3:15 PM
To: Communications, Newsday
Subject: Today's Actions

Dear fellow Newsday employee,

As I informed you a few weeks ago, we have been assessing our business in light of our company strategies and the current revenue environment. Today we initiated job reduction actions across the company. These actions included notifying employees that we are eliminating their positions and posting notices in the editorial, transportation and pressroom bargaining units to eliminate positions in accordance with the labor contracts. About 120 employees are affected. Some individuals will leave today, while others will stay through the end of March. These difficult actions are based on our urgent need to focus on the things that drive audience and revenue growth, while we manage through a soft advertising revenue environment that requires us to significantly reduce costs.

Our vision for Newsday is to grow through innovation and market responsiveness, and my foremost responsibility is to ensure that we are a healthy organization equipped and motivated to succeed in this rapidly changing and challenging marketplace. Though we all know we will not grow by cutting, we have no choice but to respond to the revenue decline and make cost adjustments now. I have reported on recent organizational changes and other new developments in our business that I expect will help us get past this difficult time and ultimately achieve the sustained growth we all desire.

I'm convinced our success will come from learning to continually reinvent ourselves, delivering to our audiences and advertising customers the news, information and connectivity they desire, where, when and in the format they want. Over the next few weeks, I will continue to outline our near-term and long-term plans and the role each of you needs to play going forward.

Today is the last day at Newsday for some of our colleagues, and we wish them well and thank them for their service. As always, you have my continued thanks for your commitment to the future of our business.

To recap, Lavine mentioned in his promotional letter that some students had said some good things about the school. A cockstrong young J-School student wrote a story questioning Lavine's use of anonymous quotes—after all, Medill teaches kids to avoid such quotes at all costs. Okay, fine. FULL STOP at this point, please. The original story (by Medill student David Spett) was pretty clever. But then the Chicago Tribune picked it up, and Romenesko picked it up. And now that the Northwestern faculty has gotten a whiff of attention from the public, they of course are tripping over themselves to make Very Serious Statements about this Very Serious Incident. Three professors sent him a letter about the "troubling situation," then a group of "concerned" students and alumni sent him another letter (duly copied to Romenesko) about how he has contravened the "sacred rules of journalism."

Here's another sacred rule of journalism: Know when to shut the fuck up. This is a situation that probably could have been handled in a 15-minute faculty meeting. But those in academia, as a rule, are constantly starved for attention, and when anyone starts paying attention to them, their instinct is to do anything possible to keep that spotlight shining as long as possible. Journalists, in particular—whether in training, or retired—love nothing better than a scandal that involves them as the good guys.

It's not a stretch to say there are few things more boring to the outside world than the inner machinations of a Journalism school. This is not even inside baseball. The story behind the Times' John McCain scoop is inside baseball. This is just some kids in a dirty alley playing stickball with a car antenna, because they don't have a proper stick.

Dean Lavine sent out an apology letter to students and faculty yesterday, in which he says he didn't make up any quotes, but he should have been more careful about proper sourcing. You can just tell the man is grinding his teeth over this bullshit. Will this apology spell the end of the scandal? Ha. If the students at Medill can restrain themselves from writing any more about this issue from now on, I will personally give one of them a job upon graduation (not really. But it's a moot point, cause they are sure to write thousands of words more, and possibly some graduate theses on the incident).

Allow us to quote rich asshole and Tribune Company owner Sam Zell:

"This business has been eroding before your eyes and you're worried about my language? ... Everything I said was with an intent to get everybody to get off their [behinds] and understand this is a crisis. We've got to save this business. We've got to make this work. And we've got to prioritize what we get all pushed out of shape about. ... If we keep operating the way we've been operating, there is no future."

This asshole makes a good point. All that self-referential ivory tower bullshit is not gonna do one thing to change the fact that all these kids are shelling out huge money in order to be trained for a dying business. We know that great journalists always, on instinct, attack their own bosses , like a trained pit bull will attack a baby. But it's time to get over it, and focus on something that actually matters. Because those Medill students are gonna be upset when the journalism industry continues to tank, their jobs don't exist, and this Dean Lavine story ends up being the biggest one of their entire careers. No mas.

"I'm not disrespecting anybody. I'm trying to make everybody uncomfortable," Zell said. "This business has been eroding before your eyes and you're worried about my language? ... Everything I said was with an intent to get everybody to get off their [behinds] and understand this is a crisis. We've got to save this business. We've got to make this work. And we've got to prioritize what we get all pushed out of shape about. ... If we keep operating the way we've been operating, there is no future."

Sam Zell: Kicking [behinds] daily.

The arrival of an unrepentantly blunt owner has always caused mass garment-rending in newsrooms. When owner Mike Lacey introduced himself to Village Voice staffers, he told them to get ready to say goodbye to their friends. It didn't help that he reportedly did it with his cowboy boots propped up in their faces. People still talk about the time Lacey walked into the L.A. Reader and called everybody in the place a cocksucker. Philadelphia Inquirer publisher Brian Tierney's tirades at reporters are legendary, and media magnate Si Newhouse was no boy scout.

We're quite sure there are mild-mannered cuddly billionaires, but we haven't met them yet. Resurrecting a sprawling corporation stuck in a flawed and flagging industry involves unpopular decisions and requires some serious chutzpah. Tribune's probably too far gone to be righted no matter how much Sam Zell swears at it, but it's hard not to get a kick out of watching the little guy give it his boorish best. Besides, who hasn't wanted to call a media exec an overpaid motherfucker?