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Why doesn't Scott Forstall...
- Thread starter mncmoore
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Just cause he is out doesn't mean he's mad. Plus, if he does that, I don't think any other tech company would want to hire him or work with him. He's still young, he can probably relax a while and then work on his own start up or join some company at an executive level. Kiss those chances goodbye if he acts like a little crybaby.
Dude made a ton of money with Apple so I doubt he'd be pissed to do something like that.
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Forstall is rocking JellyBean on his phone these days. That's probably his way of telling apple to suck it these days. 
He signed an agreement. We're unlikely to ever know the exact terms but, at his level of seniority, I bet it was far stricter than the sort of non disclosure agreement that you or I might be asked to sign if participating in a beta test program for instance. It's very possible that his NDA includes the option for Apple to sue him for consequential damages if he leaks anything.
Apple is no stranger to legal proceedings. If he breaches his NDA then Apple would rightly come after him. That would probably immediately stop the issue of any remaining shares due and probably also result in a case claiming tens or even hundreds of millions of additional dollars for consequential losses. Apple might not win that part of the case but if you were Scott Forstall would you really take even the slightest risk that you could turn your life from being almost unimaginably wealthy to literally being bankrupt and on the streets all for the sake of spite?
Forstall is rocking JellyBean on his phone these days. That's probably his way of telling apple to suck it these days.
That would be ironic.
For whatever reason, and as hard as it is to believe...some people actually keep the promises (NDA) they make.
I know it's a staggering concept...
I know it's a staggering concept...
True - but he could easily leak the info and if they cant pin it on him then there aint mch they can do. That goes for any NDA agreement. They are breakable. Just saying.
To what end?
Just to be bitter, and seek some level of petty revenge? He's bound by an NDA, as others stated, he's got a boatload of money and if he's looking to work somewhere else and rats out Apple secrets that will give a prospective employer second thoughts (he divulged apple secrets will he do the same to me, kind of thinking)
Just to be bitter, and seek some level of petty revenge? He's bound by an NDA, as others stated, he's got a boatload of money and if he's looking to work somewhere else and rats out Apple secrets that will give a prospective employer second thoughts (he divulged apple secrets will he do the same to me, kind of thinking)
It would be an incredibly dickish move that wouldn't work out in his favour at all, since it has no favour for him in the first place. If Forstall was to blab Apple secrets, I think people would dislike him more than they already do now for all the awful UI decisions.
Then again, the same could be said for Jony Ive right now in a lot of people's minds.
Then again, the same could be said for Jony Ive right now in a lot of people's minds.
They could sue the pants off of him. So there is a lot they can do. Thats a pretty big gamble to think they couldn't pin it on him considering apple has so much money that launching a large scale investigation would be trivial for them.
Also, who is going to hire someone in the future who shows that level of unprofessionalism and hurting the company over a petty grudge.
People who get to the level he was at get there by playing the game effectively, not by going to the nuclear option immediately.
In short, him disclosing anything would only hurt himself. He would lose a ton of money in a lawsuit and probably in lost future wages and benefits.
To put it in perspective, one time Pepsi was offered the recipe to Coke by a disgruntled employee from Coke. Not only did they not take it, they turned the guy into the police. Had they taken it, they would ahve been liable for a lot of damages, as well as declared that such actions are ok to do (leaving them vulnerable to the same kind of thing from their own employees) You don't play with fire when it comes to corporate espionage and breaking nda's.
Because he didn't have a $50,000 a year job that is worth bickering about losing?
Nor was he an unstable mess like some of the people who do crimes like the Coke and Pepsi guys are. They were secretaries, not high paid executives who specialized in interfaces. They were people glued to desks and paperwork all day who probably made an average salary and wanted more.
The guy is worth over $40 million, he sold his stock last year. He absolutely doesn't benefit from doing anything stupid like that.
Nor was he an unstable mess like some of the people who do crimes like the Coke and Pepsi guys are. They were secretaries, not high paid executives who specialized in interfaces. They were people glued to desks and paperwork all day who probably made an average salary and wanted more.
The guy is worth over $40 million, he sold his stock last year. He absolutely doesn't benefit from doing anything stupid like that.
And what other large tech corporation would hire him if Scott gave himself a legendary reputation as a vengeful back-stabber?
He is still young. He can still find employment with other companies. So burning bridges is a stupid thing to do.
The only time it makes sense for him to "out" the Apple secrets is when he is a grey-haired old man, semi-retired, can no longer find a decent job in tech industry, and he needs to write that autobiography in order to make some extra cash for his retirement mansion. THEN would be a good time to spill some dirty laundry on his former employer.
Nda plus uncashed shares tied to apple might factor in
Indeed. After reading this post, I was just looking at the insider shareholdings for Apple and it seems that as of last year, Forstall owns about $1.4mm in stock. Of course that may have changed by now.
But what blew my mind is that, at today's prices, Tim Cook owns about $42 million in stock and Al Gore is "close" behind with about $30 million. Mansfield splits the difference between the two. And don't even get me started on Art Levinson's $80 million in stock
Estimates are that President Clinton has a net worth of about $80 million, yet Vice President Gore is tipping the scales at $200 million thanks to his inventing the internet. Ha Ha.
Anyway - as a finance guy with nowhere near that kind of scratch - I really appreciate the being there at the right time and believing in the company aspect.
Retaliate for what? He was purged from the team for not 'fitting in'.
All of the above posters' reasons plus, why show the whole world you're a vindictive, petty person, and give more ammunition to your enemies. There's nothing to be gained by him, in doing so, absolutely nothing!
He's not exactly strapped for cash, and still has a bright future ahead of him; why screw that up?