Wiggy's Lawsuit - More Bullshit

[hollywoodrose]

I was just thinking about wiggy's lawsuit and I just realized it makes even less sense than before. Two things - first, he repeated the bullshit excuse about the reason for the merger bonus payment, saying that it was "a whole different issue" and had nothing to do with merger compensation. His "logic" was that the merger bonus was really a bailout payment in the event that the company they're merging with, XM, wants revenge for stern not signing with them originally. But if "retribution" was such a concern to the wigman, why not address it by simply making the contract stronger? Why not address any fears of XM in the contract and attach a penalty in the event that those requirements are not met? Why the fuck would a concern like that be connected to a merger clause? It's just so stupid and for stern to float that kind of a statement publicly makes even less sense. It completely exposes him as a liar and proves his lawsuit is frivolous.



The other thing he tried to say was that the new incoming XM subscribers were supposed to be credited to him regardless of whether they were attributable to him or not. This makes no sense because it completely goes against the way in which his original deal was set up. When he signed, all of his bonuses were tied to "stern-based" subscribers - people who were there for stern. They had to prove somehow that Howard brought those people in and that they were at least initially there for him in some way. Now he argues that once the companies merge, he suddenly gets paid for everybody, whether they're interested in stern or not? That would give him a better deal for the company/subscribers that he inherited as opposed to the company he signed with? If this was the deal, then he would be getting %100 credit for XM subscribers, but possibly only 10% of those at his own company. Does this make any sense?



My thoughts are that this lawsuit was just a negotiating tactic thrown at Sirius during the end of his last contract. Wiggy was steaming at the idea of a pay cut, and him and buckwald foolishly overplayed their hand in response. Sirius called their bluff and uncle wiggly was forced to follow through very publicly with something that was never supposed to leave whatever back room they were in.

[Vashier]

his whole arguement now is that there would have been no merger without Howard so he gets all the subs as he caused the merger

[FishySausage]

I'm no stern supporter on this issue.
His lawsuit is a joke but you're mistaken on the whole "stern based subscriber" part of your arguement. His bonuses were based on just numbers of subscribers. Period.
I think stern and don thought they would pull a fast one in the event of a merger and purposefully left the language murky in the contract.
Because maybe he knew SIRIUS would not flat out agree to such a ridiculous bonus on top of his other bonuses.
Funny that that murky language may (and probobly will) bone him.

[Onehourphoto]

All he has to do is tell his stoy to a jury. Simple as that. What jury would not believe the most honest and trusted person in show business?

[Bosch76]

I'm no stern supporter on this issue.
His lawsuit is a joke but you're mistaken on the whole "stern based subscriber" part of your arguement. His bonuses were based on just numbers of subscribers. Period.
I think stern and don thought they would pull a fast one in the event of a merger and purposefully left the language murky in the contract.
Because maybe he knew SIRIUS would not flat out agree to such a ridiculous bonus on top of his other bonuses.
Funny that that murky language may (and probobly will) bone him.

Incorrect. There were two types of bonuses he could get.

The first was based on new subscribers they could directly attribute to Howard through surveys etc. That number was lower. He hit that the first year, then not again.

The second was overall Sirius subscribers. That was a higher number. I do not know if he ever hit that one.

[IlluminatiJones]

All he has to do is tell his stoy to a jury. Simple as that. What jury would not believe the most honest and trusted person in show business?

I think he'd lose them as soon as he started rubbing his palms together and his eyes got extra-wide with excitement.

[Scott]

The first was based on new subscribers they could directly attribute to Howard through surveys etc. That number was lower. He hit that the first year, then not again.

I lied on my survey.

[Shithead]

What jury would not believe the most honest and trusted person in show business?

[Beth Eats Hay]

[DICKWAD]

[racerx]

you guys are believing him.
i don't.

IMO he's just hoping they will settle for a few marbles to make the suit go away

[jimbronie]

The real issue here is Mel. He and his staff were the ones who decided XM subscribers would have to pay a premium to hear Howard ( and a few others). This is where the crux of the issue is. Howard will most likely lose again, but the real question will Howard go after Mel for conspiring to keep Howard's bonus away from him? I somehow doubt that but one never knows how deep he wants all the marboes.

[SalsMasterShake]

you guys are believing him.
i don't.

IMO he's just hoping they will settle for a few marbles to make the suit go away

Then he'll declare victory ("Mission Accomplished") and crow about it incessantly for weeks and weeks.

[TheLACritic]

The biggest lie is Howard knows that Sirius XM didn't intend to give him an additional merger bonus, but felt the contract language was murky enough to attempt to ask and then sue. When $300 million is at stake who cares about honesty and credibility right Howard? Sirius-XM was forced to do the "best of" packages otherwise Howard would have had a stronger argument but how can he claim he deserves to be paid for people who don't listen to him? If Derek Jeter had an attendance clause in his contract and the Yankees merged with the Mets would Jeter deserve a bonus based on the Mets' attendance figures too? Howard is making a blatant unethical money grab. It's amazing that NBC was willing to do a contract with someone as dishonest and money hungry as Howard.

[isabella]

sirius,please don't settle with howard!!!!

[Imus O Sternsky]

All he has to do is tell his stoy to a jury. Simple as that. What jury would not believe the most honest and trusted person in show business?

I'm the most honest guy in the world
I'm the king of all media
I was the one who took the risk
I have 20 million listeners
I deserve another bonus

[dude]

sirius,please don't settle with howard!!!!

I think the original lawsuit was completely dismissed by the judge. She said it didn't even have enough merit to go to court, I believe. Now it's in appeals just to be heard in court.

[dude]

Incorrect. There were two types of bonuses he could get.

The first was based on new subscribers they could directly attribute to Howard through surveys etc. That number was lower. He hit that the first year, then not again.

The second was overall Sirius subscribers. That was a higher number. I do not know if he ever hit that one.

Yeah that second one I believe is what he's claiming. I looked again at the doc that was filed and it seems to say that all parties agree that HS generated subs are not the issue. Overall subs are the issues...That Howard claims that after the merger, all subs should be counted which means they outperformed Sirius internal estimates. Which is still redic because of the merger bonus and that they were still set up as two companies with two platforms until recently.

[rilagent]

you guys are believing him.
i don't.

IMO he's just hoping they will settle for a few marbles to make the suit go away

I agree except I think at this point it's a face saving move by Howard. His shakedown lawsuit was bitch slapped for what it was and he has protest louder to suggest otherwise.

While I agree with the OP, he's way off on a number of points. Mostly, if the merger did happen the other way, the dominant company has to honor all contracts. A merger is not a bankruptcy. Wiggy's suggestion that he was afraid of a cancelled contract is bullshit.

[DaBUU]

When I first signed up, about 6-8 months before Howard aired on Sirius, they had 400K subs. After he started on, about 6-8 months later it was up to about 8-10 million subs. I think he's a greedy bastard, but he has a point. I was there the whole time and watched Sirius pull their shit together only because of Howard. They'd be done and gone if it weren't for him, and they sure as fuck would have never taken over XM, which at the time was dominating.