Ever hear of Waywire? Most people have not. Waywire is a video aggregations startup company that was "founded" by Newark mayor Cory Booker and which employed the son of CNN head Jeff Zucker as an advisor. According to Booker's latest financial disclosures, his stake in Waywire is worth between 1 and 5 million dollars, while the rest of his assets total less than $750,000, so Waywire could be as much as 85% of everything that Booker owns by his own admission. So why is this news?
The answer is simple. Waywire was funded by some big money people in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, including, among others, Oprah Winfrey and Eric Schmidt (of Google). Booker did not put his own (minimal) cash at risk. More important, Booker was a "founder" of the company and did not work at running the place. Translating this into English, it appears that Cory Booker was given a very big gift by his super wealthy friends; they were trying to make him a rich man. Think about it. Why should Cory Booker own a stake in a company that HE values at as much as five million dollars in exchange for nothing other than use of his name as a "founder". Maybe the Booker name would help at a regulated company in New Jersey, but of what use could it be to a video aggregation site on the internet? Do teens in Nevada watch films at Waywire because Booker is listed as founder? I don't think so. It certainly seems that Booker got something for nothing (or, to be fair, for very little).
There are all sorts of laws about giving gifts to politicians. It seems that many of these were not followed. For example, Booker somehow overlooked reporting his interest in Waywire on his financial disclosure forms until just recently when he began to run for the senate. Booker got the interest in 2009, so "overlooking" that filing went on for four years.
Then there is the position given to Jeff Zucker's son on the advisory board of the company. He got stock as payment for that role. The only problem is that Zucker's son is 15 years old and he was younger still when he was put on the board. Really? A 14 year old advisor to an internet startup? Zucker's son has now resigned since his role was made public. Is that because his position was really a way to funnel cash to Zucker himself? Is it because his position was a way to get Zucker to use his contacts to help Waywire? We don't know that yet. All we do know is that hiring a 14 year old to be on the advisory board and granting him all sorts of stock options is more than a bit strange.
Booker is going to have to come forward and explain this mess. He cannot expect the people of New Jersey to vote for him without that explanation. Actually, given that the same voters just sent Bob Menendez back to Washington despite all his problems, maybe Booker thinks that Waywire just will not matter.
The answer is simple. Waywire was funded by some big money people in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, including, among others, Oprah Winfrey and Eric Schmidt (of Google). Booker did not put his own (minimal) cash at risk. More important, Booker was a "founder" of the company and did not work at running the place. Translating this into English, it appears that Cory Booker was given a very big gift by his super wealthy friends; they were trying to make him a rich man. Think about it. Why should Cory Booker own a stake in a company that HE values at as much as five million dollars in exchange for nothing other than use of his name as a "founder". Maybe the Booker name would help at a regulated company in New Jersey, but of what use could it be to a video aggregation site on the internet? Do teens in Nevada watch films at Waywire because Booker is listed as founder? I don't think so. It certainly seems that Booker got something for nothing (or, to be fair, for very little).
There are all sorts of laws about giving gifts to politicians. It seems that many of these were not followed. For example, Booker somehow overlooked reporting his interest in Waywire on his financial disclosure forms until just recently when he began to run for the senate. Booker got the interest in 2009, so "overlooking" that filing went on for four years.
Then there is the position given to Jeff Zucker's son on the advisory board of the company. He got stock as payment for that role. The only problem is that Zucker's son is 15 years old and he was younger still when he was put on the board. Really? A 14 year old advisor to an internet startup? Zucker's son has now resigned since his role was made public. Is that because his position was really a way to funnel cash to Zucker himself? Is it because his position was a way to get Zucker to use his contacts to help Waywire? We don't know that yet. All we do know is that hiring a 14 year old to be on the advisory board and granting him all sorts of stock options is more than a bit strange.
Booker is going to have to come forward and explain this mess. He cannot expect the people of New Jersey to vote for him without that explanation. Actually, given that the same voters just sent Bob Menendez back to Washington despite all his problems, maybe Booker thinks that Waywire just will not matter.
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