Hasbro lost a billion dollars this year, but D&D made a tonne of profit. And they laid off 1100 people. What I can’t understand is how they’re business model works. And how laying off 1100 people will allegedly save $400 million dollar (someone check my math, but does each employee cost 350k+ each?)
Anyway
Theoretical operating costs.
It’s a crazy high operating cost number, if true. Rule of thumb is that operating costs are 25-40% in addition to employee salaries for white collar employees.
Oh man, you want the real answer?
The people who run these kinds of companies ascended to their roles through a mixture of amorality, naked ambition, willingness to do whatever it takes to ingratiate themselves to those above them, credit stealing, blame shifting, and sabotage of rivals. As a rule, they are uncreative, unintelligent, and cowardly, but they have arrogance in spades. If you think you’ve met an exception to the rule, you’re either wrong or they just haven’t been pushed out yet. Natural sociopaths are common, but so are those who have intentionally become sociopathic in the pursuit of power. It’s a trait that’s selected for.
They will replace successful leaders with their own cronies and yes people because they would rather suffocate a successful thing they don’t control completely than tolerate success from someone that’s threatening to their ego.
For all of their performative hand wringing about layoffs, they don’t actually care and will say terrible things in private.
Long story short, they’re all Carter Burke from Aliens, but the more power one accumulates, the more of an asshole they become.
Source: from millionaires to billionaires, I’ve had to deal with these human-shaped bags of shit up close and personal my entire career.
