Barrons’ has a rather complete list and while I don’t agree with the final choices, still a funny read. Stanford University is a winner, despite a sharp decline in their take from the offering, writes Barrons.
“More importantly, Page and Brin’s shenanigans haven’t dimmed Stanford’s luster as a fount of technological innovation. The only hope UC Berkeley grads have for a Cardinal comeuppance is the annual football classic in November.” Ouch.
Other winners - Hugh and Christie Hefner.
The ancient lion of the Playboy Mansion and his scion, enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame by publishing an interview with Page and Brin that, in an unintentional bit of financial naughtiness, prompted some finger wagging by the Securities and Exchange Commission. When the interview was eventually appended to the offering prospectus, it let brokers and traders say with a straight face that they had read Playboy for the articles. This was clearly the biggest coup the venerable skin mag had scored since the mid-1970s, when presidential candidate Jimmy Carter told one of its interviewers that he had committed adultery in his heart.
Despite being worth $3 billion each, Brin and Page are losers.
The two thirty-something wunderkind founders started off as Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger wannabes. But high-handedness quickly replaced high-mindedness, and by the time the offering launched they looked more like the Two Stooges.
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