

Great design sense and a knack for sales won't save you (if your best friend is a penny-stock tout) - byrneseyeview
http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/bizfinance/biz/features/4406/

======
rms
I always like the NYMag articles about business/criminal business. This is my
favorite one.

<http://nymag.com/news/features/16653/>

~~~
brett
That was really good.

~~~
rms
If you liked that, this is the only other "intellectual" type article about
upper class drug use/abuse I've seen.

[http://www.westword.com/2003-09-04/news/72-hour-party-
people...](http://www.westword.com/2003-09-04/news/72-hour-party-people/full)

------
brett
The "battle between Al Gore and George W. Bush"?

How old is this? Where the hell are the dates on these articles?

~~~
gwenhwyfaer
At least six years old - as it happens, he was convicted, and sentenced to
almost 4 years in jail: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Madden>

~~~
brett
And he managed to continue getting paid in jail:
<http://www.slate.com/?id=2064214>

------
Tichy
I don't get those stories that span > 5 pages. Who has the time to read that
stuff? They should at least provide a short summary somehow.

~~~
rms
I don't get those novels that span > 200 pages. Who has the time to read that
stuff?

~~~
Tichy
I actually read a lot, but those newspaper stories annoy me, because the blow
up a short message into so many lines. Why don't they just tell you on page
one what his friends did to screw him over? Instead they describe the blue sky
and the birds chirping and what the guy had for lunch.

~~~
gscott
The more words the story is the more the author gets paid or it had to be a
certain number of words in the first place I suppose.

I liked the story, it seems this guy would have been successful and not in
trouble if he had stayed away from promoting and manipulating penny stocks.

It is the basic story

1\. He made something himself with almost no money 2\. He borrowed enough to
make some to sell 3\. He sold them himself 4\. People liked his product 5\. He
went on to expand and make more shoe products. 6\. His company became large
and successful

Only the bad part

7\. His past actions came back to screw up his present success.

~~~
Tichy
I was actually interested in the story, too, that is why it annoyed me that
they made it so hard to read.

So what where his past actions? Is he really innocent? If so, how come he
might still be sent to jail?

~~~
rms
The two people that handled his IPO were a pump and dump firm. They are being
prosecuted and they are testifying against everyone they know to try and save
themselves. They claim that Steve Madden knew that his IPO was being
manipulated and that he was guaranteed profit, even if the stock tanked. Steve
Madden says he thought it was all legit.

It seems like Steve Madden, at the very least, unknowingly enabled these
criminals, but it sounds like he will get off because the two testifying
against him are incredibly unreliable witnesses.

EDIT: Didn't check the date. He pled guilty and went to jail.

~~~
Tichy
Thanks for the summary ;-)

------
chaostheory
even if things go badly for Madden I wouldn't be surprised if he can pull off
a James Cash Penney (founder of JC Penneys). I think Penney lost most of his
money at around the same age as Madden and somehow he managed to earn it all
back and then some...

~~~
gwenhwyfaer
> even if things go badly for Madden

They kind of did...

~~~
chaostheory
ok i meant rock bottom

