BC BUSINESS
Saved by @WebbDarrrel

Thread:
An explosive new criminal complaint against Martin Inacker, the former CEO of @wpmeurocom in #Germany shows Inacker potentially double crossing his #Saudi clients by colluding with #Qatar to cover up Doha's #Hezbullah's sponsorship in exchange for hush money.

 According to the complaint, Inacker had kept the terms of his initial agreement with the #Saudi Ministry of Information (following his work with the Saudi Embassy in Berlin) secret from @wmpeurocom 's Board of Directors.
He had used unethical methods to promote a hyperbolized, if not outright mendacious, brochure that was supposed to improve the image of #KSA and the royal family. He had promised a list of high level political and business context to the Saudis as part of his business.
A strategy paper developed by Inacker was leaked to the papers showing unethical, and possibly illegal pressure on ten journalists to switch their "tone" on #KSA as a result of Inacker's lobbying efforts.
However, despite throwing these journalists under the bus, by his own admission Inacker did not appear to have succeeded in pressuring them to "switch their tone". This shows Inacker's duplicity: 1) he lied to his Saudi clients about his alleged success.
2.) Inacker threw journalists under the bus exposing their names to the public and damaging their credibility and careers despite having failed to achieve concrete results on switching tone on KSA
3) Inacker engaged in illegal methods of pressuring targets instead of allowing them to draw their own conclusions.
and
4) Inacker kept all of these developments from @wmpeurocom 's board in violation of his obligations as a board member.
This strategy paper ultimately damaged #Saudis as much as it damaged @wmpeurocom's reputation following the fallout from the #Khashoggi affair. #Saudis were seen as engaging in unethical whitewashing methods prior to the murder at the consulate.
But was Inacker playing a double game against his clients the whole time? Soon following the #Khashoggi PR disaster, Inacker had apparently engaged with #Qatar. The complaint demonstrates Inacker's role as an intermediary as a target of a sting operation with Jason G.
Inacker facilitated the contacts that led to Jason's meeting with #Qatar's Ambassador to Brussels. Jason G met with the Ambassador on multiple occasions and came to an agreement regarding a payment of 750K in euros in hush money for documents revealing #Qatar's HEzbullah funding.
Inacker was offered and accepted 300K in euros for his role in facilitating this arrangement. However, his role in betraying the trust of his Saudi clients also involved in dealing with what appears with a treacherous senior adviser to King Salman.
Inacker, Jason G, and a high-ranking adviser to King Salman of #KSA, "Jason" met on February 12, 2018 in a suite of the Munich luxury hotel "The Charles". At the time, Inacker was still under contract with the Saudi Ministry of Information.
https://t.co/UxSIpevF67
The German criminal complaint against Inacker references incriminating conversations regarding arrangements for #Qatar hush money on #Hezbullah financing, and a recording involving a meeting where a third party may have been involved. Was King Salman's adviser that third party?
What is known is that the New York prosecutors are currently seeking information on the content of allegations against #Qatar. These allegations include weapons smuggling to support #Houthis in the war in #Yemen that involved a member of the Al Thani royal family in the funding.
If Inacker made the introduction of King Salman's high ranking adviser to Jason G, who was seeking hush money for documents on #Qatar's funding of terrorists, and if that adviser was party to these negotiations, then Inacker was using his Saudi client to get a cut from #Qatar.
Since Inacker was under contract with Saudi gov't at the time the meeting with King Salman's high ranking adviser take place, this indicates corruption at the highest level of Saudi government, and Inacker's unethical facilitation of collusion of a fiduciary and KSA's adversary.
Worth noting that Inacker had worked for #Qatar prior to working with the Saudi government. His contract had started in 2015 before the 2017 Gulf Crisis. Rather than informing his clients about #Qatar's overtures, however, Inacker continued double dealing.
Was Inacker being used by #Qatar the entire time, and was the contract with the Saudis merely a ruse for Inacker to win the trust of senior officials and to exploit his connections for additional money from deals with #Qataris?
The minutes of Inacker's conversations with the Saudi adviser to King Salman indicate that Inacker's double cross of his client involved recruitment of what can only be described as a high level mole.
https://t.co/UxSIpevF67
According to Der Stern, Inacker & the Saudi adviser to King Salman, decided NOT to pass on the explosive information about #Qatar's hush money over #Hezbullah financing and funding of drones for #Houthis that had attacked Saudi civilians, but to confront #Qataris & demand a cut.
Remarkably, Inacker and the high level adviser to King Salman decided that it was more "profitable" to try to get hush money from #Qataris for their silence than to share this vital security information with Inacker's Saudi government client and with the adviser's boss, the King.
Worth noting that @wmpeurocom had been working with #Qatar as an agency until June 2017 when the conflict between KSA and #Qatar had escalated to the point "it was no longer possible" for the agency to work simultaneously with both of "the warring sides".
According to exhibits in criminal complaint against Inacker, the lobbyist kept his board in the dark about his arrangements with Jason G and the cut he was getting from the #Qatari hush money. Blinded by greed, Inacker & the Saudi adviser ignored the risks of a sting operation.

More from Business

George Yury Revutsky
George Yury Revutsky
@george_revutsky
1/An interesting thing happened tonight. I was scrolling through clubhouse and found WileyCEO, Godfather of Grime (kicked off Twitter in July for antisemitic tweets) speaking. So I tweeted this (and included a screen shot, later deleted as I found out TOS don't allow it ...


2/ ... and several folks also asked me to remove it which I promptly did afterwards).... Coming into the CH room, I fully intended to confront him about how hurtful his comments in July were. But as I listened to the folks in the room, I decided to go a different direction ....

3/ the conversation jumped around, covered many topics and there were between 8-14 people up on stage. But a recurring thread was discussion of racism, bigotry, comparison of it in the US vs UK vs elsewhere.

4/ when I got a chance to speak, I had 5 bullets written down: a) we should harness technology and capitalism to make reparations for what America did to Black people. I gave https://t.co/SlrW8zCd58 (a project a couple friends co-started) as an example) ...

5/ b) capitalism and product know-how and technology can be harnessed for social justice c) historically oppressed minorities need to stick together and lastly, d) "Wiley, how could you say such hurtful things about Jews as a people?" That's what I had ready to say, anyway.
BUSINESS
Cory Doctorow #BLM
Cory Doctorow #BLM
@doctorow
Republican North Dakota legislators have introduced #SB2333, a bill that prohibits large tech companies from locking their users into a single app store or payment processor.

https://t.co/PgyhgOhFAl

1/


While his has implications for Android and other large tech platforms, its most immediate and far-reaching effects with be on Apple, whose Ios platform uses lock-in to monopolize both apps and payments (and another domain, not mentioned in the bill: repairs).

2/

Predictably, this has thrown Apple into a fury, with Apple's privacy chief @erikn telling the SD legislature that Apple uses its monopoly over the app store to protect its users' privacy and

Neuenschwander makes a good, but incomplete, point. To the extent that Apple has the same interests as its users, it uses its app store monopoly to lock out bad apps (to the best of its ability).

4/

But when Apple's interests diverge from its users' interests, the prohibition on sideloading apps actively harms those users' privacy and security. Think of how Apple caved to Chinese state demands to remove working VPNs from the Ios app store to facilitate mass surveillance.

5/
BUSINESS
Advertisement
Corporate Machiavelli
Corporate Machiavelli
@corporatemach
THREAD:

Employees vs Employers

“We who toil for other people have all in some way been captured by pirates and sold into slavery.” –Law 24

It should be said plainly; employment is nothing more than the next step in the evolution of slavery.

The corporation you are employed by has a psychopathic level of indifference as to whether you live or die.

This is not Leftwing political rhetoric; it is a machiavellian reality you will have to contend with.

Your employer is not your ally; they are your adversary.

It is in your best interest for wages to be as high as possible, while it is in your employer’s best interest for wages to be as low as possible.
BUSINESS , AUTHOR
ArmaLite Andy\U0001f943\U0001f96f\u2615
ArmaLite Andy🥃🥯☕...
@Deep_Seas_Oil
Piper Alpha was an originally designed as an oil producing rig in the North Sea approximately 120 miles North East of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was a fixed leg platform in water depth of 475 Feet of water. The installation sat close to 275 Feet above water to the top of the derrick.


2) It started production in December 1976 for OPCAL joint venture. OPCAL being Occidental Petroleum Caledonia, Texaco Britain, Thomson PLC, and Texas Petroleum LTD. Occidental was the majority stakeholder at 36.5%


3) Occidental being majority stakeholder took control of technical and operational duties with running and operating the rig. When oil production started in 1976 it started with a flow of 250,000 BBL/day and eventually increasing this amount to 300,000 BBL/day.


4) 300,000 BBL/day would account for approximately 10% of the UK’s oil production at the time, so needless to say it was one of the most important rigs in the area. Any gas that was flowing would be flared or consumed by gas turbine generators


5) Around 1980 there was a decision to convert the rig to also process gas along with the oil. This was a major conversion, and if it would have been scoped in from the beginning, most likely construction of the rig would have been more accommodating for gas.
BUSINESS
Aloke Bajpai
Aloke Bajpai
@alokebajpai
It is hard to build a profitable internet business at scale in India, but not impossible. Let me talk about ixigo's FY2020 performance. But first, the back story (with @rajnishkumar)

It was 2016. We had 3 Million MAUs (mostly organic) and were getting closer to 20 crores annual revenue. We were trying to raise money because we had just 12 months of burn left in the bank.

Out of many conversations, I remember one with a VC in our office who asked us our CAC-LTV ratio. TBH, we didn't track it in those days because we always made money on the first transaction itself and didn't spend a lot on customer acquisition, but I remember the look we got !

Yet another one gave us advice - "Look it's been 10 years since launch, travel is done and dusted, why don't you guys try doing something else". We felt dejected for a bit but went back to work the next day - not the first or last time we would face rejections.

I met @shaileshlakhani (after many years) at an Unpluggd event in Bengaluru in early 2016, and we sat down to chat about ixigo. He was the first investor we met in a long time who saw us not for who we were but for who we could become.
BUSINESS

You May Also Like

sriram \U0001f1ee\U0001f1f3
sriram 🇮🇳...
@SriramKannan77
Don't be too excited about the Khel Ratna award being renamed. There is a lot more to do. If have patience, go through this list.
1. Rajiv Gandhi Gold Cup Kabaddi Tournament
2. Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Run
3. Rajiv Gandhi Federation Cup boxing championship

4. Rajiv Gandhi International tournament (football)
5. NSCI – Rajiv Gandhi road races, New Delhi
6. Rajiv Gandhi Boat Race, Kerala
7. Rajiv Gandhi International Artistic Gymnastic Tournament
8. Rajiv Gandhi Kabbadi Meet

9. Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Roller Skating Championship
10. Rajiv Gandhi memorial marathon race, New Delhi
11. Rajiv Gandhi International Judo Championship, Chandigarh
12. Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Trophy for the Best College, Calicut

13. Rajiv Gandhi Rural Cricket Tournament, Initiated by Rahul Gandhi in Amethi
14. Rajiv Gandhi Gold Cup (U-21), football
15. Rajiv Gandhi Trophy (football)
16. Rajiv Gandhi Award for Outstanding Sportspersons

17. All India Rajiv Gandhi Basketball (Girls) Tournament, organized by Delhi State
18. All India Rajiv Gandhi Wrestling Gold Cup, organized by Delhi State
19. Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Jhopadpatti Football Tournament, Rajura
ALL
Jaya_Upadhyaya
Jaya_Upadhyaya
@Jayalko1
DODDA GANAPATHI, BENGALURU
#karnatakatemples

Dodda in Kannada means big. Sri Ganesha here is 18 ft tall in height and 16 ft wide. Dodda Ganesha is also known as Shakthi Ganapathi and Satya Ganapathi.

It is said that Kempe Gowda, the founder of Bengaluru, saw a rock here.


The rock had engravings of Ganesha. His sculptors cut the Ganesha murti from that single rock. Later, a shrine was built around the Ganesh murti.

It is believed that Dodda Ganapathi is the protector of Bengaluru. All auspicious events start by praying to Him.


Benne Alankara is the most famous festival here when about 100 kg of butter is coated over Ganapathi every four years and the rich prasad is offered to the worshippers.

Ganesha is also covered in cream colour and is decorated with golden laces and buttons
@GampaSD


The Dodda Ganapathi murti is believed to be still growing in size, especially towards right.

The weavers from old Bengaluru tie a coconut to their looms before starting work. When the work is completed, they break 100 coconuts here along with the one tied on the loom.
ALL
Advertisement
Jaya_Upadhyaya
Jaya_Upadhyaya
@Jayalko1
SRI CHAMPAKADHAMA SWAMY, BANNERGHATTA HILL, BENGALURU (KAR)
#bharatmandir

The shrine is dedicated to Sri Vishnu along with Devi Lakshmi and Bhoodevi.
It is built in an area full of Champaka trees.
As champaka flowers are offered to Sri Vishnu here, it is called Champakadhama.


It is believed that King Janmejaya had sarpa-dosha. To get rid of it, he took bath in the nearby pond. He emerged with a golden body and sarpa-dosha was also removed. The pond is called Swarnamukhi and believed to have curative powers.
Sri Vishnu murti was consecrated by him.


It is also believed that this forest area was the Dandakaranya where Sri Ram stayed in exile.
Some believe that the original shrine was built by Pandavas.
The pushkarni/pond is emptied once a year so that the rock at the bottom (which has image of Anjaneya) may be worshipped.
ALL
Quinn Cummings
Quinn Cummings
@quinncy
Gather round, Gentle Readers. It is time I tell the story of the worst decision I ever made in an office. Some of you have heard this. Some have not. Whatever you do in your office today, this week, the rest of this year, you can console yourself by recalling this tale.

A long time ago, I was a talent agent. I worked for a woman named Susan Smith, who had her own small boutique agency. She was known for three things:

1. She had fantastic taste in clients. If there is someone you admire, odds are good that at some point, she was their agent,

2. She could negotiate a deal like few who have ever trod the earth. Casting would give her all the money they had budgeted for that part, plus a little more, plus promising to get her dog Barnaby groomed. She was magnificent to watch.

3. She was insane.

I'm sure you're thinking, "Quinn, it's the entertainment industry, they are all insane." Yes, many are. So consider this; if you told someone you worked for Susan, people who worked for insane people would look and you and whisper, "I hear she's insane."
LIFE
Anu Satheesh \U0001f1ee\U0001f1f3
Anu Satheesh 🇮🇳...
@AnuSatheesh5
Stories of Guruvayurappan
Shri Krishna Leela

This is a beautiful story of Guruvayurappan. Once there lived in Guruvayur a poor family. Kitta, his wife & kids were struggling for their daily needs. With only a coconut tree in house, he earned a living by selling coconuts.


Kitta was from a low caste family. He was a great devotee of Guruvayurappan. Everyday before going to work he always prayed infront of a picture of Guruvayurappan in his house. His only wish was to worship at Guruvayur & have annadanam in temple. But he was not allowed there


It was Utsavam time in Guruvayur. From far behind kitta and family worshipped Guruvayurappan. Annadanam was given daily and no one was left empty stomach. Only Kitta didn't receive. That night, it was only Kitta's family who was sleeping without food. After temple nada closed


Shri Krishna, dressed himself as a Brahmin went to temple Kitchen. He packed food and went directly to kitta's house. Reaching Kitta's house, Shri Krishna told he was sent by a cook of Guruvayur temple and gave them the food he packed. Kitta and family was very happy seeing food.


When Kitta finished his food, Brahmin asked it will be better if he get a tender coconut( karikku)to drink. Kitta climbed the tree and gave all coconuts to him. After having 1 tender coconut, the Brahmin asked to bring remaining coconuts to Guruvayur temple the next day.
ALL