# Timeshare tycoon: If Obama re-elected, "I'll have no choice but to reduce the size of this company." **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 10, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270 "2012-10-10T00:33:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/61 "2012-10-11T13:23:15Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > I think we found John Galt. More precisely, we found the protagonist of the little-known sequel _Atlas Scammed_, in which the inhabitants of Galt’s Gulch all lost their shirts trading bogus timeshare deals, derivative bundles of bad mortgages, and shares in pyramid schemes. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/62 "2012-10-11T13:50:32Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It gets better. He was interviewed yesterday about all this: > > [http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ceo-workers-youll-likely-fired-131640914.html](http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ceo-workers-youll-likely-fired-131640914.html) > > > [@](#): > > > > I asked David during a phone interview last night, and he told me that this was about his workers, not himself. He said his own finances have vastly improved. He has paid off all of his major lenders. “I have enough money for the rest of my life and enough to leave a good inheritance for our kids.” He said the loan for Versailles is paid off and he’s resuming construction on the home. > > > > “The elevators are going in and they’re preparing to put in the marble.” > > > > The deal with Versailles’ lenders, he went on, worked out “better than I imagined,” since he was allowed to go nine months without making any interest payments on the loan. Jackie has several offers for a new reality TV show “which we’re in the process of ranking and evaluating,” Siegel said. > > > > He has learned his own painful lesson from the debt crunch. “We cut back, we’re lean and mean. That’s what the rest of the country has to do.” So, when are we going to break out the guillotines? ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/63 "2012-10-11T14:47:55Z")
> [@Rollo\_Tomasi](#): > > If you really want to confirm your suspicion that this guy is an asshole, see this year’s documentary **The Queen of Versailles**. It’s ostensibly about the freakishly large house (the largest single residence in America) that Siegel and his wife were building before his timeshare empire collapsed, but there are plenty of other opportunities for ridicule. His cretin son even brags about getting the customers (whom he calls “mooches,” for real) to pay more than they can afford for shitty timeshare deals. > [@Ravenman](#): > > The letter would be more effective had he attached a photo: [link.](http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2012/10/09/david-siegel-and-the-billionaires-sad-lament/) > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > That woman on his lap – how much are the timeshares going for? > [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > You really have to see _The Queen of Versailles_ to get the full flavor of this guy and how completely delusional and out-of-touch he is. BTW, the woman on his lap in the picture is his wife, and surprisingly she is the more practical and realistic person in that couple. Although she is very privileged, she did not come from a rich background, and she at least gets the concept that you can’t spend money you don’t have. > [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > She was definitely the more interesting of the two in that movie. It kills me that she became an engineer in the 70s and then totally poofed into that thing. > > There’s also a bit where he talks about lending GWB a hand in Florida in 2000 but he didn’t want to delve into specifics because he’s pretty sure whatever it was he did was at best quasi-legal. There are definitely some screws loose in that household. While the wife was at Sundance for the screening of the movie the husband was suing them for defamation. I actually had lunch with the wife by chance. Not impressed. She’s really not very pretty in my opinion. She has massive breasts. I don’t know if they are real and I didn’t care to try to find out. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/64 "2012-10-11T15:11:05Z")
This guy lives near my parents home, and we can access his property via boat, as their home is on a lake that connects to the lake that the Seigal Property is on. His \*old \*home I should say, which is also a massive, quasi-italian palace with a bunch of quasi-neo classical marbles everywhere in the back. Good bass fishing there though despite the gold-leafed eyesore. The original property was lost to his ex wife in a divorce suit so he began building the new, larger one as a “fuck you” to his ex. Guy is all class. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/65 "2012-10-11T20:39:30Z")
> [@Siegel](#): > > We cut back, we’re lean and mean. That’s what the rest of the country has to do. Yeah, if the rest of the Americans just put off adding the marble for a few years, we’ll be peachy. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/66 "2012-10-11T20:47:35Z")
I really don’t see why all those folks with delinquent mortgage couldn’t just get the banks to let them not pay interest for 9 months like this guy did. Buncha slackers if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/67 "2012-10-12T00:47:51Z")
If you owe the bank one hundred thousand dollars, they own you. If you owe the bank one hundred million dollars, you own them. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/68 "2012-10-15T11:31:56Z")
They’re at it again. Now Koch Industries has srent out a similar letter, and so has ASG Software Solutions: > **[Yahoo News: Latest and Breaking News, Headlines, Live Updates, and More](https://news.yahoo.com/)** > > The latest news and headlines from Yahoo News. Get breaking news stories and in-depth coverage with videos and photos. > [@](#): > > Koch Industries, the Wichita, Kan.-based company run by the billionaire Koch brothers, sent a voter information packet to 45,000 employees of its Georgia Pacific subsidiary earlier this month. > > In it was a letter, dated Oct. 1, from Koch Industries president Dave Robertson implicitly warning that “many of our more than 50,000 U.S. employees and contractors may suffer the consequences” of voting for President Obama and other Democrats in the 2012 elections, a list of conservative candidates the company’s political action committee endorses and a pair of editorials: one, by David Koch, supporting Mitt Romney, and the other, by Charles Koch, condemning Obama. > … > … > … > > Siegel and the Koch brothers are not alone in issuing anti-Obama missives to employees. According to MSNBC, Arthur Allen, chief executive of ASG Software Solutions, wrote a similar email to his staffers on Sept. 30 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/69 "2012-10-15T11:59:26Z")
In 2007, I worked for a company that was acquired by ASG Software Solutions. In the weeks leading up to the acquisition, the staff was told that we would all be kept on and how ASG needed us to run the company. On the day of the acquisition, they promptly laid off 75% of the company. My workgroup went from 18 people down to 3 people. Three cheers for the job creators! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/70 "2012-10-15T13:11:12Z")
What did you expect? Obama won the 2008 election. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/71 "2012-10-15T17:44:54Z")
> [@Mr.Greenjeans](#): > > In 2007, I worked for a company that was acquired by ASG Software Solutions. In the weeks leading up to the acquisition, the staff was told that we would all be kept on and how ASG needed us to run the company. On the day of the acquisition, they promptly laid off 75% of the company. My workgroup went from 18 people down to 3 people. > > Three cheers for the job creators! I really hate these kinds of stories, though I’m not doubting the veracity. I work in M&A, and my company really won’t get rid of the staff when we acquire a company. However, some asshole saying they won’t and then doing it anyway gives us all a bad name, and makes it hard for anyone to believe us. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/72 "2012-10-15T17:50:08Z")
In fairness, the asshole saying they aren’t going to lay anyone off is usually the guy selling, not the guy buying. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/73 "2012-10-15T18:15:44Z")
> [@](#): > > one, by David Koch, supporting Mitt Romney, and the other, by Charles Koch, condemning Obama. See? Fair and balanced! ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/74 "2012-10-15T19:19:02Z")
How is this not blatantly illegal voter intimidation? ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/75 "2012-10-15T19:30:24Z")
> [@Mr.Greenjeans](#): > > In 2007, I worked for a company that was acquired by ASG Software Solutions. In the weeks leading up to the acquisition, the staff was told that we would all be kept on and how ASG needed us to run the company. On the day of the acquisition, they promptly laid off 75% of the company. My workgroup went from 18 people down to 3 people. > > Three cheers for the job creators! This has always been my experience. I think every company that I’ve ever worked for that was bought out by some other company has started the buy-out by having someone say “Now, nothing is going to change..” and then laid half the staff off ASAP. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/76 "2012-10-15T19:39:17Z")
Honestly, I’d expect a certain number of layoffs after a merger. The combined company needs only one HR dept, one accounting dept and so forth, so there’s going to be a certain amount of redundancy to eliminate. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/77 "2012-10-15T19:42:56Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > How is this not blatantly illegal voter intimidation? Freedom of speech! Why do you hate freedom so much??? ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/78 "2012-10-15T19:49:51Z")
The Siegel’s seem to have a gift for understated and tasteful interior decoration. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/79 "2012-10-15T19:53:10Z")
I had no idea you could spend $100,000 at Woolworths. (Stolen from a guy describing his visit to the home of Ike and Tina Turner) ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/80 "2012-10-16T21:01:07Z")
I kind of hope this catches on. Maybe I’m unique, but the only time an employer made any suggestions about how I should vote, they got a hearty fuck you, and a vote for the other guy for their trouble. In fact, I was going to vote that way anyway, but it became a pleasure rather than holding my nose. I think it says a lot about the character and mindset of these folks that they imagine this won’t backfire. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270.md?page=5)