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am_Unition  ·  1576 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What happened before Kodak's moment

Update: It's looking worse and worse

    But as the media covered news of the deal, more direct evidence of executive profiteering was being concealed from the public. On July 27, the day before the deal was announced, Kodak awarded Continenza and three other top Kodak executives stock options. Those stock options include the right to buy Kodak stock at $3.03, $4.53, $6.03, and $12 until February 2026. But while the options were awarded on July 27, they weren't disclosed until after 7 PM on July 29. As the Non-Gaap newsletter notes, this means that when Continenza appeared on CNBC and Fox Business about the deal on the morning of July 29, he could not be asked about the transaction.

    ...

    In normal circumstances, one might be able to argue that executives should be personally rewarding for striking a deal to save a company. But this was not an ordinary loan. It was a loan from taxpayers intended to assist the country's response to a deadly pandemic. Using such a loan as an occasion to personally enrich top executives takes on a different meaning. The efforts they took to keep news of the options out of the initial news cycle suggests they knew what they were doing was wrong.

Maybe the worst part? I have absolutely no confidence that the DoJ will seriously investigate people who are this level of "well-connected" to the Trump admin.

But also, I just now got the "Kodak moment" joke in the headline. chanting JUDD! JUDD! JUDD! JUDD!