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A CRA Wedding

Just a couple of weekends ago, I flew into a nearby Asian city and attended a CRA wedding.  CRA, as in crazy, and Crazy Rich Asians.  While I admit I have become slightly jaded, there were still many amusing and memorable moments.  For one, the bride was absolutely stunning in both her exquisite gowns.  She should be on the cover of Vogue or Tatler, says this proud cousin of hers.  The groom, a successful entrepreneur, is one very lucky guy, and not least because he also managed to mobilise a team of loyal friends who sportingly performed ridiculous forfeits alongside him, typical Asian-style, just so that he could get to his bride hiding behind the door.  Of course, it was all in good fun, although a number of us, the bride’s brother included, were visibly relieved that we were spared from the shenanigans.  We were just content being spectators.  Then following a tea ceremony and a delectable luncheon, we had a mid-afternoon snooze before the wedding banquet at our hotel.  There was gorgeous food, as well as glamorous threads, a wonderful live band, thoughtful wedding favours and hilarious speeches.  Yet some of us hit the dance floor only briefly before returning to our hotel rooms around midnight.  I really liked the idea of simply taking the lift/elevator straight up to the top of this particular hotel on the 34th floor and to bed!

A Crazy World

Yet all this merrymaking, luxury and comfort was almost surreal, juxtaposed with the stark and sobering rumblings and unfolding events across the globe.  The list is long but not exhaustive: the ongoing Brexit saga with new UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson dealing with multiple cabinet resignations; the US-China trade war; US-Iran, US-Turkey, Japan-South Korea and Japan-North Korea tensions; mass protests and detentions at the Moscow city duma election; the suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan; heavy floods and deaths in Nepal; the proxy war in Yemen between Saudi Arabia and Iran; the Altamira prison riot and deaths in Brazil; wildfires in Siberia; Bangkok bombings during a regional security summit; India versus Pakistan over Kashmir; the Venezuelan presidential crisis; extradition bill protests in Hong Kong; the unprecedented European heatwave; shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio; car bombing in Cairo, Egypt; the Iran-Iraq Persian Gulf crisis; the collapse of Harland and Wolff, builders of RMS Titanic and HMS Belfast.  We live in a complicated, disruptive, conflict-ridden and troubled world.

While certain issues are beyond our control and/or far too complex to be resolved in a short span of time, many are man-made, driven by greed, ambition as well as political posturing and manoeuvering, or simply the result of misguidance or prejudice.  Some issues actually arise because of what our culture values, pursues and perpetuates.

Impressive Individuals in Our World

Let me introduce you to three individuals who have made the news recently.

Individual #1

He began his career in finance at a New York-based global investment bank, before setting up his own firm.  As a well-connected multimillionaire who hobnobbed with the financial, political and cultural elite, many of whom flew in his private Boeing 727 jet, he was a long-time acquaintance of a British royal and a former US president.  Donald Trump once called him a “terrific guy”, before they became embroiled in a 2004 bidding war for a US$40 million mansion, which the future US president eventually won. Establishing himself as a philanthropist as well as an advocate of cryonics and transhumanism, this individual started a foundation to fund science research and education.  In May 2003, he pledged a series of donations purportedly totalling US$30 million to create a mathematical biology and evolutionary dynamics programme at Harvard which was run by Professor Martin Nowak.

Individual #2

A young German heiress with a trust fund worth 60 million euros, her grand vision was to open a “members only” club and visual arts space in the Big Apple.  She mingled with established hoteliers, businessmen, real estate developer tycoons and the fashion crowd.  She travelled by private jet, stayed at exclusive hotels, engaged expensive personal trainers, indulged in high-end spa treatments, extravagant shopping sprees and luxury vacations, as well as dined or hosted lavish dinners at fancy restaurants.  She once chartered a jet to Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway annual investment conference to see Warren Buffett.  Hotel staff were known to appreciate her casual US$100 tips.

Individual #3

Born into a wealthy Malaysian family, this young man attended the elite Harrow School in London and also graduated from Wharton Business School where he developed strong ties with the scions of wealthy families and royalty, especially those from Malaysia and the Middle East.    He cultivated relationships with some of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, and was instrumental in mega deals such as the US$600 million acquisition of a hotel in New York, US$2.4 billion takeover of an energy company, US$2.2 billion buyout of a music publishing business and the formation of a Hollywood film production company that created a movie which garnered five Oscar nominations.  Both his parties and casino jaunts were legendary – he was often seen with A-list celebrities, and he once gave casino staff a US$1 million tip.  He owned a US$250 million super yacht, and of course, a private jet – the US$35 million Bombardier Global 5000.  His philanthropy began after a reported cancer scare in 2012. In 2013, his foundation committed US$50 million over 12 years to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he spent six months recovering from his infection and cancer scare.  The funds were to begin a pilot programme using IBM’s computer system as a clinical decision support system to acquire, analyse and organise vast amounts of data to help physicians determine the most promising treatments for cancer patients.  His foundation also committed US$25 million over 15 years to the humanitarian news service IRIN in November 2014, a step intended to fill a funding gap after the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs withdrew support in 2014.

Who are these people who have impressed so many in high society? What do they have in common?

The answer is that they are all individuals who lived the high life at stratospheric levels and impressed or seduced countless people with their perceived wealth and “charm”.  Sadly, they are all respectable-sounding fraudsters – Jeffrey Epstein; Anna Sorokin; Jho Low.

Jeffrey Epstein

Jeffrey Epstein, 66, was a convicted sex offender and financier.  Prior to his conviction for sex crimes in 2008, Epstein was a well-connected multi-millionaire who was frequently spotted at lavish dinner events, fundraisers and political campaigns.  Through his connections and wealth, and as part of a plea deal, he was able to secure a mere slap on the wrist for his 2008 conviction.  However, the law finally caught up with him.  Epstein was arrested again on 6 July 2019 on federal charges for sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York, USA.  He faced the possibility of up to 45 years in prison.  According to The Boston Globe, contrary to Epstein’s pledge of US$30 million in a series of donations in 2003, the actual amount received from him was only US$6.5 million. In 2019, Forbes deleted a 2013 article that called Epstein “one of the largest backers of cutting edge science”, after The New York Times revealed its author, Drew Hendricks, had been paid US$600 to submit it falsely as his own.  Meanwhile, billionaire Leslie Wexner has also claimed that Epstein misappropriated US$46 million from him while serving as his financial adviser.  (On 10 August 2019, just a couple of days after this blog post was penned, Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan prison cell.  He reportedly hanged himself.)

Anna Sorokin

Anna Sorokin (or Anna Vadimovna Sorokina) is a 28-year-old fraudster of Russian descent, who for several years posed as German heiress Anna Delvey.  Now notoriously known as “the Soho Grifter”, Sorokin was arrested in 2018 and convicted in May 2019 of multiple counts of attempted grand larceny, theft of services, and larceny in the second degree for scamming New York hotels and wealthy acquaintances.  She was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison.  Her lawyer has defended her by explaining away her actions as simply “fake it until you make it” behaviour.  Sorokin has been quoted as saying: “The thing is, I’m not sorry…”  She is currently planning two memoirs – one to span the time she spent in New York and the other about her time in Rikers.  However, she may not receive any money from her Netflix deal due to New York’s “Son of Sam” law, which restricts the amount criminals can profit from their crimes.

Jho Low

Jho Low is a 37-year-old Malaysian fugitive sought by the authorities of Malaysia, Singapore and the US in connection with the 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad) scandal, which has led to the downfall of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his notorious wife Rosmah Mansor.  Prosecutors allege that Low is the mastermind of an elaborate global scheme to siphon US$4.5 billion from 1MDB into his personal accounts and those of his accomplices.  It should be noted that Low was not the sole perpetrator.  Many parties were involved in pulling off this “heist of the century” – political figures as well as top executives from sovereign wealth funds, banks and audit firms who stood to profit in some way and therefore chose to look the other way. It is also interesting to note that top models and celebrities who were constantly seen with Low, especially the A-listers – whether they were paid to do so or not – did not care to question the source of his mind-boggling wealth.  (For a detailed account on the 1MDB scandal, please refer to Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood and the World by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope. The Sarawak Report by Clare Rewcastle Brown is also a good alternative.)

Nature versus Nurture and Complicity

Jeffrey Epstein did not have a college degree but he thought he could get away with anything, including the exploitation of underage girls, as long as he was well-connected and acquired enough wealth and like-minded friends to buy himself out of trouble every time.  Anna Sorokin was born in a working-class town in Moscow, but she wanted to live the life of an heiress, a lifestyle she thought was attainable as long as she faked it to make it, facilitated by a bedazzled entourage fawning and feeding her ego.  Jho Low misused his Harrow and Wharton education, and by conspiring with like-minded criminals, including his own family members, robbed his own government and fellow citizens of Malaysia. Epstein, Sorokin and Low never gave any thought to the harm they were causing others.  They were blinded by their lust, greed and ambition.  They simply focused on “taking care of Number One”.  The sobering thought is that there were many people surrounding them who were complicit – “birds of a feather flock together”. Epstein, Sorokin and Low lacked good mentors or coaches who challenged their thinking and behaviour.  Simply put, they did not have any role models with a moral compass in their lives.

Cambridge Analytica: Data Manipulation to Swing Votes

Let us also not forget the unravelling and eventual May 2018 collapse of British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica (CA), and its role in more than 200 elections around the world.  With its key leaders being CEO Alexander Nix, investors Robert Mercer and Rebecca Mercer, and the ever-controversial former Vice President Steve Bannon, CA worked quietly with political strategist Dominic Cummings and succeeded in delivering Brexit with their targeted messaging around “£350 million” and “Turkey”.  Then bolstered by their success in the UK, CA used their expertise to help the Trump campaign secure the election of “outsider” Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election.  CA targeted potential and “persuadable” voters with bespoke messages, and managed to convert or swing votes in strategic constituencies to deliver the shock victory in Trump’s favour.

Yet it all began much earlier in 2015 when the personal data of up to 87 million Facebook users were acquired via the 270,000 Facebook users who used a Facebook app called “This Is Your Digital Life.” By granting this third-party app permission to acquire their data, the app gained access to information on these users’ friends network.  This resulted in the data collection of about 87 million users, the majority of whom had not explicitly given CA permission to access their data. Again, CA and their clients in the UK and the US never thought twice about the ethics of what they were doing.  They just wanted to win.

In short, it was a new kind of ruthless voter manipulation powered by Facebook data.

What helped the case against CA and its eventual demise were the relentless investigative reporting of British journalist Carole Cadwalladr of The Observer as well as the testimonies of former employees and whistle blowers Brittany Kaiser and Christopher Wylie.

Reflection

Given the way the world ticks these days, how many people, ourselves included, can resist the lure of money, power, status and the high life? How many, even when aware of blatant wrongdoing, would willingly halt such an attractive, compelling, irresistible, comfortable and revered way of life? Kaiser has confessed that she began working for CA the same year her once wealthy family ran into financial troubles and lost their home.  She was soon drawn into the cocktail circuit and rubbing shoulders with the elite even at NRA (National Rifle Association) networking events.

While some may question the real motives of Kaiser and Wylie, as well as the veracity of their roles as whistleblowers, we must acknowledge and applaud that their testimonies have brought to light key areas of concern, including data privacy and protection against nefarious use.

Here are a couple more questions: When we, in our respective spheres of influence, are presented with a questionable opportunity, what would we do? Would we question it? Would we voice our genuine concerns? And what would our ultimate choice and decision be, when nobody’s looking?

Also, if trustworthy, talented and loyal employees or team members do their job by sharing their honest analysis, assessment and some “inconvenient truths” (whether with or without the use of diplomatic cables or encrypted emails, for example), should these truthful but perhaps unflattering comments or details ever be leaked, will we stand by our few good men and women? Or will we as leaders, for the sake of personal ambition and personal gain, expeditiously “throw them under the bus”?

What then can we learn from all this? What really drives each of us? What impresses us? Why were so many people duped by Epstein, Sorokin and Low? What frustrates and riles us? What kind of targeted messages orchestrated by Cambridge Analytica and the like would get us all worked up and ready to do something or “take back control”? How do we allow ourselves to be swayed by the political rhetoric of politicians and leaders? And how do advertising, marketing and social media advocate lavish lifestyles which inform, shape and encourage our aspirations and also ubiquitous scams? How does what we value in business and in life influence the way we perceive and treat others, and the way we prioritise and lead? How are we complicit?

Last but not least, as leaders, how then can we ensure accountability and use our influence to set the right tone in our organisation and our world?