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Hold on to your gold-plated private jets, because some executives are about to give us a reality check... or maybe they're the ones who desperately need one! Join us as we count down the most jaw-dropping, tone-deaf, and downright hilarious instances where corporate leaders made comments or decisions that showed just how disconnected they truly are from the everyday world. Get ready for some serious head-shaking and plenty of cringe-worthy moments that will make you question what planet they're living on!
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00:00The concert is underpriced, has been for a long time.
00:04Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most dystopian, hilarious, and bizarre times
00:10when CEOs and executives made tone-deaf comments that showed just how out of touch they are with reality.
00:15And I said, that is the most expensive phone in the world, and it doesn't appeal to business customers because
00:20it doesn't have a keyboard.
00:23Number 20. McDonald's Chris Kempchinski can't stomach product.
00:27If you're going to be CEO of a company, you need to believe in what you're selling.
00:31Unfortunately for McDonald's Kempchinski, he seemingly doesn't.
00:34I love this product. It is so good. I'm going to do a tasting right now, but I'm going to
00:38eat this for my lunch, just so you know.
00:40In 2026, with the fast food chain releasing The Big Arch Burger, Kempchinski uploaded a video of himself on social
00:46media as he tried it out.
00:47However, rather than inspire others to consume it, people mocked him.
00:50All right, the moment of truth.
00:56That is so good.
00:58That's a big bite for a big arch.
01:00On top of Kempchinski taking the smallest bite possible while claiming it was big,
01:04he was also mocked for referring to the hamburger as a product, making it as un-food-like as possible.
01:09Not only were the general public parodying Kempchinski,
01:12but so did other fast food chains such as Burger King's president, Tom Curtis.
01:15Not bad, right?
01:17Only one thing missing. A napkin.
01:22Number 19. Bank CEO's Credit Cards Criticism
01:25If you have a product with a company, the worst thing possible to hear is probably its boss stating they
01:30don't use it and then heavily criticizing it.
01:32Well, in 2003, that's what happened with the credit card customers of BarclayCard, owned by Barclays.
01:37That's not good because he doesn't trust his own bank, the bank that he's supposed to represent.
01:43The then-chief executive of the bank, Matthew Barrett, was appearing at the UK's Commons Treasury
01:47to answer questions about rising household debt and issues with credit cards.
01:51He stated that he doesn't use the plastic method as it's too expensive.
01:55He also mentioned deterring his children from using credit cards and racking up charges.
01:59Unsurprisingly, customers were furious, so much so that in 2004,
02:02BarclayCard offered the UK public fixed-rate loans to replace their credit card debt.
02:07Barclays' press office later issued a statement saying their chief executive had been quoted out of context.
02:13They insisted that he does use a company card, but what he was telling MPs was that he wouldn't use
02:18that card to borrow money long-term.
02:21Number 18. Snapchat's CEO allegedly claims app isn't for poor countries
02:25After being fired as Snapchat's head of growth, Anthony Pompliano issued a wrongful termination lawsuit in 2017,
02:32claiming that the company had lied about its metrics.
02:34Yet within his evidence was an accusation that made the company's CEO and co-founder, Evan Spiegel, look super bad.
02:41Anthony Pompliano, who was a former employee with Snapchat, had alleged that Snapchat CEO, Ivan Spiegel,
02:49had called India a poor country and allegedly said that his company has no intentions of expanding its base
02:56in poor countries such as India, as the app is only for rich people.
03:00Yikes.
03:01Immediately, Snapchat denied Pompliano's claims by stating that the platform was for everyone.
03:06However, that didn't stop furious Indians from uninstalling the app.
03:09In 2018, a judge forced Pompliano's case into private arbitration.
03:13The company's legal team has said that the ex-employee knew nothing about the company's metric or system of operations.
03:20Number 17, Papa John's CEO Blaming Sales on NFL Protests
03:24After founding the Papa John's Pizza franchise in 1984,
03:28John Schnatter has been a constant chairman on the board and beyond a brief stint away its CEO.
03:33However, in 2017, the snowball of consequences began to roll down the hill.
03:37Board of directors on a Wednesday were my biggest fans,
03:40and then all of a sudden Sunday they kicked me to the curb.
03:43I would have liked a decent barrel.
03:45During an investor's call, Schnatter shifted the blame for the company's poor financial performance
03:50with a bizarre logic leap.
03:52He claimed the fault was NFL players protesting the national anthem.
03:55Papa John's is a family of small businesses, and the NFL is our biggest spend.
04:00And so every year when the fall came around, our sales would go up.
04:04When the controversy started, sales did the other, they went down.
04:08As Papa John's stock fell, Schnatter resigned as CEO, staying on as the board's chairman.
04:13However, in 2018, Schnatter uttered a racial slur during a diversity training call,
04:18forcing him to resign from the board.
04:20He didn't help himself when he went all supervillain in 2019 by claiming Papa John's
04:24Day of Reckoning will come.
04:26I've had over 40 pizzas in the last 30 days, and it's not the same pizza.
04:30It's not the same product.
04:31Number 16. Miss America CEO Mocks Contestants
04:34As a business that specializes in pageants, you'd expect it to treat its contestants with respect
04:39due to relying on them.
04:40However, not Miss America's CEO, Sam Haskell.
04:43In 2017, reports about leaked emails emerged between him and other board members and higher
04:48ups that mocked the participants.
04:50The emails were about me, Kate Schindel, Gretchen Carlson, and a lot of just discussing my weight.
04:56There was a photo that was passed around of me throughout an email chain calling me fat,
05:00discussing things of that nature.
05:01The years of emails referred to the contestants with derogatory language, insults, and petty remarks.
05:06They even made jokes about violence towards the prospective Miss Americas.
05:10You start to think about the types of conversations that were taking place around you while you're
05:14in that time frame of your life, and you start to go, oh wait, so if they were talking about
05:17another Miss America like that in front of me, it shouldn't surprise me then that once
05:21I was done being Miss America, this same type of thing was taking place.
05:24So it doesn't surprise me so much.
05:26It is difficult to see it in black and white.
05:28It's definitely difficult for my father and mother to see it in black and white.
05:31Understandably, many winners and former participants signed a letter calling for the people involved
05:35to resign.
05:36While Miss America tried to excuse Haskell's behavior due to his being under distress from
05:40personal attacks on his family, the outrage led to him and the others involved resigning
05:44from the pageant.
05:45But tonight, former Miss America's Gretchen Carlson and Kate Schindel say it's not enough.
05:49They want a full house cleaning.
05:51They say the women of Miss America are determined to take their pageant back.
05:55Number 15.
05:56Twitter's tricky for its CFO.
05:57Before Elon Musk got his paws on the social media site and renamed it X, Twitter was under
06:02the leadership of Anthony Noto as its CFO.
06:05As such, it's reasonable to assume he'd know how the platform worked, but no.
06:09This has a name to it, right?
06:10Isn't it called DM Fail, Direct Message Fail?
06:13Right, exactly.
06:14In 2014, Noto tweeted to the public that the company had plans to purchase another business.
06:18While he quickly deleted it, the message was screenshotted.
06:21Noto initially claimed he was hacked.
06:22However, the wording suggested it was meant to be a DM, not a public tweet, which he later
06:26confirmed to be the case.
06:27In 2015, irony got involved as Noto's account was actually hacked.
06:31In 2018, Noto would depart the company to become CEO of SoFi.
06:35We want to make sure we put in place the right building blocks.
06:38As I mentioned, we're going to make sure that we strengthen our core products, invest
06:42in new products, and then most critically, building out this membership experience.
06:46Number 14.
06:47Jim Ratcliffe's Incorrect Immigration Facts.
06:49England's Ratcliffe is a puzzle of contradictions.
06:51After supporting the UK leaving the EU, the Ineos founder and CEO then moved to tax-free
06:57Monaco.
06:57In 2023, after failing to buy Chelsea Football Club, he purchased a 25% stake in his boyhood
07:02team, Manchester United.
07:04After gaining a reputation as a penny pincher by making lots of cuts, Ratcliffe decided to
07:08attack another demographic in 2026 by claiming the UK had been colonized by immigrants.
07:21To add weight, Ratcliffe provided several figures, the majority of which were factually incorrect.
07:26As such, he was heavily criticized by supporters of United, who have a worldwide fan base and
07:30Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.
07:32Ratcliffe released a non-apology statement where he said he was sorry for his language
07:36offending some people.
07:37The Football Association does often act on individuals in football and pursue action,
07:43even if they have issued an apology.
07:45So where this goes now will be something that they're looking into.
07:49It is not a Football Association investigation at this stage.
07:52It is something they are looking into.
07:55Number 13.
07:56Abercrombie & Fitch is only for hotties.
07:58Back in the day, it wasn't unusual to see shirtless male models standing outside Abercrombie
08:02& Fitch stores to lure people inside.
08:03This policy was brought in by the brand's CEO, Mike Jeffries.
08:06And with his history, it's not surprising.
08:08It was meant to be exclusive.
08:12He was proud of it being an exclusive brand that conveyed what he considered a sense of
08:19cool.
08:19In 2013, a 2006 interview he did with Salon resurfaced.
08:23He admitted that the company was exclusionary, stating that fashion giants only hired good-looking
08:27people, as that's who they wanted to sell to.
08:30As such, Abercrombie & Fitch also didn't carry clothes in larger sizes.
08:33We found mostly double zeros in extra smalls, and a couple of large tops in size 10 pants.
08:40Salespeople there confirmed Abercrombie doesn't carry XL or XXL for women.
08:46While Jeffries backtracked following backlash and the company's stock price falling, the writing
08:50was on the wall as he lost his job in 2014.
08:52Jeffries drew further scandal in 2024 when he was indicted on trafficking charges.
08:56Jeffries and two other men have pleaded not guilty to multiple counts in what prosecutors
09:01describe as a years-long and international scheme.
09:05Number 12.
09:06Campbell's Soup is for Poor People.
09:07In 2024, Robert Garza, a former worker at the canned soup company Campbell's, issued a
09:12lawsuit against the group for unfair dismissal after he reported an executive's dreadful
09:16behavior to higher-ups.
09:17He had never had any disciplinary action.
09:19They had never written him up for poor work performance.
09:22Garza says no one at Campbell's ever followed up, and it's taken him 10 months to find
09:28a new job.
09:29The executive turned out to be Campbell's vice president and chief information security
09:32officer, Martin Valli.
09:34Garza accused Valli of making racist comments about Indians during a meeting and stating that
09:39he doesn't buy his own company's products, describing it as food for poor people, and
09:42claimed the chicken Campbell's used was 3D printed.
09:45Even in Canada's soup, I look at it, look at me, pop, bioengineer, me.
09:50I don't want to eat a f***.
09:52A piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer, you?
09:54Unfortunately for the VP, Garza had recorded his rant.
09:58After Valli was briefly placed on leave while the company investigated the allegations, he
10:02was then dismissed from the soup giants.
10:04Number 11.
10:05WeWork CEO Adam Neumann's Lavish Spending
10:07Often described as eccentric, Neumann was co-founder and CEO of the working space company
10:11WeWork.
10:12However, while the company had mass purgings of employees, he would lavishly spend $60
10:16million of the company's cash on a private plane.
10:19During one firing in 2016, after announcing firings and not reading the room, Neumann then
10:24presented to the now-unemployed folks a gig by Run-DMC's Daryl McDaniels.
10:28Excuse me, sir.
10:30You've taken all our money.
10:31Could you at least teach me and my little friends for the marketable skill?
10:34I mean, could you teach us to dance?
10:36Not with this game, man.
10:37It's not gonna work.
10:38We can only imagine Neumann requested that McDaniels start the gig with It's Tricky, before
10:43getting serious with It's Like That, and ending by leading the stunned employee to the door
10:47as he sang Walk This Way.
10:48Following Neumann's negative reputation and WeWork hemorrhaging money, he was forced to
10:52resign in 2019.
10:54His jet was then put up for sale.
10:55The current plan, unphysically.
10:58Okay, is there one even fraction of a kind of personal element for you of a return, of
11:03a redemption?
11:06We didn't speak about this question in advance.
11:09It's a...
11:10Number 10.
11:11Don't like your commute?
11:12Find another job, says Jamie Dimon.
11:14This audio and, you know, a bit of context for folks who haven't been tracking this whole
11:19saga, about a month ago, J.P. Morgan announced a five-day in-office mandate.
11:25It's set to go into effect in early March.
11:29Immediately, the backlash internally was quite swift.
11:33In the post-pandemic world, as many companies grappled with hybrid work models and the general
11:38reluctance of employees to return to the office full-time, J.P. Morgan's CEO, Jamie Dimon,
11:43was a vocal proponent of getting back to the cubicle.
11:45Amidst this push, the multi-billionaire executive brushed off employee concerns.
11:49Not paying attention, not reading your stuff, you know, and if you don't think that slows
11:54down efficiency, creativity, creates rudeness, it does, okay?
11:58And when I found out that people are doing that, you don't do that at my meetings.
12:03You go to a meeting with me.
12:04You got my attention.
12:05You got my focus.
12:06I don't bring my phone.
12:07I'm not sending texts to people, okay?
12:09It simply doesn't work.
12:10Said Dimon, I completely understand why someone doesn't want to commute an hour and a half
12:15every day.
12:16Totally got it.
12:16Doesn't mean they have to have a job here either.
12:18This sentiment inadvertently highlighted the chasm between the daily realities of the average
12:23worker and the gilded cage existence of a top-tier CEO.
12:26They simply didn't exercise managerial skill.
12:30Everyone gave everyone everything, including people at my management table, by the way,
12:33and I eventually said, I've had it with that.
12:35Number nine, Marissa Meyer fails to embrace the future.
12:3837-year-old Marissa Meyer has been a controversial figure since taking the helm at Yahoo last
12:43year.
12:44On the day she accepted the job, she announced she was pregnant.
12:47She then made headlines again by taking only two weeks' maternity leave.
12:52And now another firestorm.
12:54No more working from home.
12:56Back in 2013, as Yahoo was struggling to find its footing and the concept of remote work
13:01was slowly being mainstreamed, then-CEO Marissa Meyer made a controversial call.
13:04She abruptly ended the company's work-from-home policy, mandating that all employees return
13:09to the office, arguing it was essential for collaboration and innovation to turn the company
13:13around.
13:14To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important,
13:19so we need to be working side-by-side.
13:22Mayer's move lit up the internet, with even CEOs weighing in.
13:26Richard Branson tweeted,
13:27Give people the freedom of where to work, and they will excel.
13:31This rigid stance was met with widespread criticism, painting Meyer as a leader out of touch with
13:36modern workplace flexibility and the growing desire for work-life balance.
13:39Despite the bold move, the forced return to physical offices ultimately did little to
13:44revive Yahoo's flagging fortunes, further cementing the perception that the decision was more about
13:48control than true productivity.
13:50Silicon Valley has become known for its employee perks, and even Yahoo gives free food and
13:55an iPhone 5.
13:57So this more traditional move has some scratching their heads.
14:00To basically say that, you know, no working from home, and pretty much no working from
14:05home ever, no matter what the circumstances are, truly makes it feel sort of like an anti-parent,
14:12in many ways, anti-female workplace.
14:14Number eight.
14:14McDonald's CEO suggests that poor financial planning, not low wages, is the problem.
14:18Wow, this isn't what they intended with this. Explain a little bit about this budget guide
14:23that they put out, and why it's coming under scrutiny right now.
14:26Well, it was intended to help their employees figure out how to balance their budget and not
14:32overspend.
14:33Good intentions.
14:34Good intentions. But what it showed is that the costs that they anticipate are not very
14:40realistic. When McDonald's, a global giant built on the backs of its low-wage workers,
14:45attempted to offer financial advice, it predictably went sideways. Back in 2013, a budget planner
14:50created by the fast food chain for its employees under the tenure of CEO Don Thompson became a viral
14:55sensation for all the wrong reasons.
14:57That $1,105 number, right, that's what it would be if you're working one job, but that doesn't match
15:02the total monthly expenses at the bottom, $1,260. So they expect you to have to pick up a second
15:08job to make another nearly $1,000. So it's a lot of hours that they anticipate you're working.
15:15The proposed budget was spectacularly unrealistic, failing to account for basic living expenses
15:20like food or suggesting that employees hold multiple jobs to make ends meet. This infamous
15:25planner showcased a glaring disconnect between the corporate suite and the harsh economic realities
15:30faced by the very people flipping their burgers. It just wouldn't cut it. It wouldn't cut it. And a
15:34few other things, I mean, cable phone, that's fairly realistic, but heating, they put $0. I think
15:38they're expecting that if you're renting, your heat might be included. That may or may not be the case
15:43depending on where you're living. Number seven, Wayfair's return to prosperity comes at its
15:47employees' expense. What is it that makes the most sense for me to do and, you know, to help the
15:52company flourish? And as you get bigger, you realize that some of the tendency to do certain things
15:57yourself would actually hurt the company's ability to progress. And so that sort of started to denote,
16:04you know, what the team needed to be organized like and what type of leaders you needed.
16:09At the end of 2023, Wayfair CEO Neeraj Shah sent an email to employees celebrating the company's
16:14return to profitability, which should have been a moment of collective relief. However,
16:18the message quickly veered into a different, more demanding territory. Shah explicitly told his
16:22workforce that they should expect long hours and blend work and life to ensure continued success.
16:27Effectively framing an unhealthy work culture as a positive outcome. This statement was widely
16:32perceived as tone deaf, suggesting that employees' personal lives should be subsumed by corporate
16:36demands rather than acknowledging the need for sustainable work-life balance. It drew criticism
16:42for celebrating burnout rather than rewarding hard work with better conditions. Basically, what I've
16:47always found is like, once we got a little bigger, you're basically spending your time on,
16:52you know, a modest amount of time, ideally, making sure you know how everything is going.
16:56Um, and then more of the time on, you know, whatever's not going well, helping it get going
17:02well, or whatever is new or needs to go in a different direction. And that's something maybe
17:06you have in your head and helping you get going. Number six, Herman Miller CEO books employees a
17:12one-way ticket out of pity city. The clip was taken from a 75 minute town hall meeting last month
17:17In the video, Owen is initially calm, telling employees to control what they can control,
17:24like being kind and providing the best customer service. But her tone then shifts.
17:29During a virtual town hall meeting, Miller Knowles CEO, Andy Owen, found herself at the
17:34center of a firestorm after addressing employee concerns amidst rising inflation. Owen urged employees
17:39to stop worrying about potential missed bonuses and instead focus on achieving the company's financial
17:44goal of $26 million. Spend your time and your effort thinking about the $26 million we need
17:50and not thinking about what you're going to do if we don't get a bonus. All right. Can I get
17:56some
17:56commitment for that? I would appreciate that. I had an old boss who said to me one time,
18:01you can visit pity city, but you can't live there. So people leave pity city. Let's get it done.
18:07The backlash was swift and intense. After the video spread online, critics slammed Owen for being
18:13dismissive and out of touch with her workers' financial struggles. Within days, Miller Knowles
18:17employees and the public demanded accountability, noting the CEO's multi-million dollar pay. Owen
18:22issued an internal apology, claiming her comments were misinterpreted, but the damage to her reputation
18:26was done. An internal communications email obtained by NBC News from two verified Miller Knowles
18:32employees details an apparent apology by Owen, saying in part, quote, I try to always pick the
18:38right words and tone to inspire and motivate, adding, I feel terrible that my rallying cry seemed
18:44insensitive. Number five, Braden Wallach finds out how much his tears are really worth. This is
18:49interesting, and I haven't quite worked out where I stand on this yet. Let me get to that in a
18:53moment.
18:53We're talking about the CEO of an Ohio marketing firm. His name is Brandon Wallach, and he posted
19:00this selfie that you're looking at right there of himself crying after he had to lay off some of
19:06his workers. Hypersocial CEO Braden Wallach went viral in 2022 after posting a tearful selfie on
19:13LinkedIn following layoffs at his company. In the post, Wallach expressed regret and heartbreak over
19:18letting employees go, claiming he felt personally responsible. The image quickly spread across social
19:22media where reactions were sharply divided. Critics accused him of turning employee hardship into a
19:27self-promotional spectacle, calling the post tone deaf. Some people were very sympathetic,
19:30they said, yeah, this is a very hard thing for anyone to have to do, and we feel your pain,
19:35and that's valid. Others said, dude, you know, that's a bit much. This is part of your job,
19:41and moreover, you're making this about yourself and not all the people who have just lost their
19:45jobs, who are undoubtedly probably crying as well. Others defended Wallach for showing emotional
19:49vulnerability in a corporate world that often discourages it. He later clarified that his intent
19:53was to acknowledge the pain of leadership decisions, not to seek sympathy. Not that that mattered to
19:58online commentators who cringed at Wallach's perceived performativity. It doesn't have to be
20:03this big emotional type of social media site. I mean, I don't know about you. I see some content.
20:08It's not just CEOs crying where I just kind of roll my eyes. I'm like, really? Here on LinkedIn?
20:12What are we doing here? Number four, Michael Rapinoe doesn't think you're paying enough for concert
20:17tickets. You know, we just did the Beyonce tour. She's got 62 transport trucks outside. That's a Super Bowl
20:23she's putting on every night. Ten years ago, there might have been 12 trucks. So these artists are
20:28doing their job, elevating that game. And when you come to that show, it's a fabulous experience.
20:34So, yes, the cost has gone up, but the investment and the experience...
20:37Okay, what's happened to Margin?
20:38Live Nation CEO Michael Rapinoe managed to anger pretty much everyone after claiming that concert
20:43tickets are actually underpriced, arguing that fans still pay less for live music than for sports
20:48events. Critics blasted the billionaire executive for being tone-deaf amid inflation and rising
20:52costs for concert goers, especially given his company's dominance through Ticketmaster.
20:56For you, music is a better business, though, than selling tickets for sports, I assume.
21:01Yes, 100%. Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, I think music has been underappreciated. You know,
21:08I always joke, sports, it's like a badge of honor to spend 70 grand for a Knicks courtside.
21:14They'd beat me up if we charge 800 for a Beyonce, right?
21:18Artists like Jack Antonoff publicly condemned the remarks as heartbreaking, calling for bans on
21:22ticket resales above face value. Rapinoe defended his comments by citing higher production expenses
21:27and relatively low average ticket prices. The controversy erupted just as Live Nation and
21:32Ticketmaster faced renewed federal scrutiny over alleged anti-competitive and deceptive practices.
21:37First of all, you charge more for that than Beyonce, but like, yeah.
21:41Who are you talking about? I know.
21:42Who's spending that much money? That's insane.
21:45Number three. After a monumental scandal, Tony Hayward only had himself in mind.
21:49We're sorry for the massive disruption it's caused to their lives.
21:53And, you know, we're, there's no one who wants this thing over more than I do.
21:57You know, I'd like my life back.
21:59Life here may never be the same.
22:02The water and all that lives in and around it could be harmed for years.
22:06In the aftermath of the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, which devastated the
22:11Gulf Coast, costing lives and livelihoods, BP CEO Tony Hayward delivered one of the most
22:16infamously insensitive corporate comments in recent memory. As millions of gallons of oil
22:22spewed into the ocean and countless communities faced economic ruin, Hayward made a public
22:26declaration he instantly regretted.
22:28It's not just Hayward's reputation that's taken a hit, so has his personal fortune.
22:33Hayward's 623,000 shares of BP were worth almost $38 million the day the oil rig exploded.
22:40In the 46 days since, their value has dropped by more than a third, almost $14 million.
22:46The statement instantly sparked widespread outrage, perfectly encapsulating a profound disconnect
22:51between the personal inconvenience of a wealthy executive and the immense suffering of those
22:56directly impacted by the environmental disaster. It became a symbol of corporate arrogance and a
23:01stunning lack of empathy, ultimately contributing to Hayward's premature departure from the company.
23:05How do you feel about this imminent change? Is it too late in coming for you?
23:10Well, he had to go. He was the leader of this company. He was the one that allowed the company
23:18to
23:18run up the worst safety record of any oil company in the world.
23:23Number two, the real reason Blockbuster fell to Netflix.
23:26Did you go to Blockbuster or did they come to you?
23:29No, we tried going to Blockbuster. For months we tried reaching out to them. But this was this ultimate,
23:34I mean, listen, we were doing $5 million a year. They were doing $6 billion a year.
23:38We had 150 employees. They had 60,000. We were like a gnat to them, to an elephant.
23:47Back in the early 2000s, when Netflix was a fledgling DVD by mail service and Blockbuster
23:52video ruled the rental market, Netflix founder Reed Hastings actually offered to sell his company
23:56to Blockbuster for a mere $50 million. The story goes that Blockbuster CEO John Antioco,
24:02along with other executives, reportedly laughed them out of the room.
24:05They're trying to keep a straight face at the hubris that this little company,
24:11$50 million in debt, at the trough of the meltdown, could possibly be worth $50 million.
24:17So as you can imagine, meeting goes downhill pretty quickly after that.
24:22Antioco purportedly saw Netflix as a niche business, scoffing at their subscription model
24:27and failing to grasp the revolutionary potential of streaming and direct-to-consumer delivery.
24:31This monumental misjudgment, rooted in a staunch belief in their seemingly impenetrable brick-and-mortar
24:36empire, allowed Netflix to not only survive, but thrive, eventually becoming a global entertainment
24:41giant, while the once iconic video rental chain filed for bankruptcy in 2010.
24:46And there's even the option to never get off your couch and order movies online or through the mail
24:51with Netflix. For these users, and many like them, instant demand trumps customer service.
24:56I know what I would like. I don't need someone to tell me, oh, this is the latest and greatest
24:59video.
25:00I mean, you know what's coming out to DVD. You know what's at the theater.
25:04So you kind of already know what you want.
25:12Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's Audio, Songs from Iran,
25:17reimagining Persian melodies as modern rock, metal, and pop songs.
25:21Check out the full track and album below.
25:24Where are you, my love zone here? Say the word and I'll appear.
25:28I wrote this song just for you to tell you what I always knew.
25:38Number one. iPhone is temporary. Blackberry is forever.
25:42Not.
25:43You guys see Apple's thing?
25:50Any reaction to that?
25:51Plenty. Yeah.
25:52It's an over-design trying to do too much toy that will crash any network gullible enough to take it
25:58on.
25:58It is, by every metric, the exact opposite of everything we do at Research in Motion.
26:04In the mid-2000s, Blackberry was the undisputed king of the corporate smartphone world, synonymous with productivity and security.
26:11So when Apple unveiled the original iPhone in 2007, Blackberry's leadership infamously dismissed it as little more than a toy.
26:17Co-CEOs Jim Balsili and Mike Lazaridis initially wrote off the touchscreen device, confident that their physical keyboard and enterprise
26:24-focused features would continue to dominate.
26:27Ask anyone what they love most about their Blackberry and you will get the same answer every single time.
26:32The keyboard. The click.
26:34Okay?
26:37Well, yeah.
26:39Yeah, yeah.
26:40This entire market was born of our innovation, our idea to put a keyboard on a phone.
26:45They failed to grasp the paradigm shift the iPhone represented.
26:48A focus on user experience, a vibrant app ecosystem, and an intuitive interface that would redefine mobile computing.
26:55This profound inability to foresee the iPhone's disruptive power, born from an almost arrogant belief in their own established success,
27:02ultimately sealed Blackberry's fate.
27:03In today's Tech Bytes, the end of the line for older Blackberries.
27:07Devices using the company's legacy operating systems no longer work as of today.
27:12Android-powered devices with the Blackberry name aren't affected.
27:15At its peak, Blackberry had more than 80 million active users.
27:19What other out-of-touch CEO moments did we miss from the video?
27:22Let us know below.
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