Swing and a miss! Histories biggest business strike outs.

MikeMcMann

MikeMcMann

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Who you got? This guy is recongnized as one of three founders of Apple and is my nominee.



Ronald Wayne

...Ronald Gerald Wayne (born May 17, 1934) is an American retired electronics industry worker. He co-founded Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) with Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, ...

He soon, however, sold his share of the new company for $800 US dollars, and later accepted $1,500 to forfeit any claims against Apple (in total, equivalent to $9,296 in 2016). As of March 2017, if Wayne had kept his 10% stake in Apple Inc., it would have been worth over $75.5 billion.

..."I discovered very quickly that I had no business being in business. I was far better working in engineering

...Wayne retired to a mobile home park in Pahrump, Nevada selling stamps and rare coins in Pahrump.

...


 
Damn that dude just cant catch a break

"In the early 1990s, Wayne sold the original Apple company agreement, signed in 1976 by Jobs, Wozniak and himself, for $500. In 2011, the contract was sold at auction for $1.6 million."
 
look up gerald ratner,solid gold example of how to kill your business.
 
I’d like to buy his life story and make it a movie. I’ll give him a bag of Doritos(Party Size!) if he would accept.
 
Madmick said:
I would prefer for him to continue building things.

He seems to be pretty amazing at it.
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Seems like he should get someone to manage the business dealings side for him then as he knows he does not have a business head.
 
Pliny Pete said:
Damn that dude just cant catch a break

"In the early 1990s, Wayne sold the original Apple company agreement, signed in 1976 by Jobs, Wozniak and himself, for $500. In 2011, the contract was sold at auction for $1.6 million."
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<{cruzshake}><DCrying>


ALSO

<{MingNope}>{<jordan}bork1}<{Heymansnicker}>{<hhh]

<20>
 
neverwas said:
look up gerald ratner,solid gold example of how to kill your business.
Click to expand...
Nice.

Even though I think no one tops Ronald Wayne for total opportunity lost this guy gets big points for having a business gaffe now basically named after him.


...

Gerald Irving Ratner (born 1 November 1949) is a British businessman and motivational speaker. He was formerly chief executive of the major British jewellery company Ratners Group (now the Signet Group). He achieved notoriety after making a speech in which he jokingly denigrated two of the company's products, which caused the company's near collapse (the so-called "Ratner effect").
...
The speech
Although widely regarded as "tacky", the shops and their wares were nevertheless extremely popular with the public, until Ratner made a speech addressing a conference of the Institute of Directors at the Royal Albert Hall on 23 April 1991. During the speech, he commented:

“ We also do cut-glass sherry decanters complete with six glasses on a silver-plated tray that your butler can serve you drinks on, all for £4.95. People say, "How can you sell this for such a low price?", I say, "because it's total crap.

He compounded this by going on to remark that one of the sets of earrings was "cheaper than an M&S prawn sandwich but probably wouldn't last as long." Ratner's comments have become textbook examples of why chief executives should choose their words carefully. In the furore that ensued, customers exacted their revenge by staying away from Ratner shops. After the speech, the value of the Ratner group plummeted by around £500 million, which very nearly resulted in the firm's collapse. Ratner hired a chairman in an attempt to stabilise the situation, but was subsequently fired by the new company leader in November 1992. The group then changed its name to Signet Group in September 1993.

Today, Ratner's speech is still famous in the corporate world as an example of the value of branding and image over quality. Such gaffes are now sometimes called "doing a Ratner",and Ratner himself has acquired the sobriquet "The Sultan of Bling". Ratner has said in his defence that his remarks were not meant to be taken seriously. He also largely blamed the aggressiveness and deliberately wrongful interpretation of several media outlets for the severe consumer reaction.
 
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I would have been a millionaire but my mother threw out all of my sports cards. I probably ran a few thousand dollars worth through my bicycle spokes.

I know a man who had a stake in the Menards pole building business and got a duplex and a couple hundred thousand dollars but he could have held out for more.
 
Blockbuster had a chance to purchase Netflix for a mere $50 million and declined.

Epic Fail: How Blockbuster Could Have Owned Netflix

Blockbuster chiefs lacked the vision to see how the industry was shifting under the video rental chain's feet

It will go down as one of the biggest missed opportunities in the boardroom: Blockbuster deciding not to buy Netflix.


But that’s what could have happened multiple times throughout the early 2000s when Netflix CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings courted a deal with Blockbuster-chief John Antioco to purchase the then DVD-by-mail rental company for $50 million (the company now has a market cap of $19.7 billion).
http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/epic-fail-how-blockbuster-could-have-owned-netflix-1200823443/
 
frenzy said:
more to life than money.

as im sure steve jobs would attest to.
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True. But to be an entrepreneur and to be so close to such big wins is a lot different than if he just toiled away in a day job and you said 'more to life than just money'. There is a special kind of pain that would come with building something like Apple and then basically giving it away for free.
 
MikeMcMann said:
Nice.

Even though I think no one tops Ronald Wayne for total opportunity lost this guy gets big points for having a business gaffe now basically named after him.


...

Gerald Irving Ratner (born 1 November 1949) is a British businessman and motivational speaker. He was formerly chief executive of the major British jewellery company Ratners Group (now the Signet Group). He achieved notoriety after making a speech in which he jokingly denigrated two of the company's products, which caused the company's near collapse (the so-called "Ratner effect").
...
The speech
Although widely regarded as "tacky", the shops and their wares were nevertheless extremely popular with the public, until Ratner made a speech addressing a conference of the Institute of Directors at the Royal Albert Hall on 23 April 1991. During the speech, he commented:

“ We also do cut-glass sherry decanters complete with six glasses on a silver-plated tray that your butler can serve you drinks on, all for £4.95. People say, "How can you sell this for such a low price?", I say, "because it's total crap.

He compounded this by going on to remark that one of the sets of earrings was "cheaper than an M&S prawn sandwich but probably wouldn't last as long." Ratner's comments have become textbook examples of why chief executives should choose their words carefully. In the furore that ensued, customers exacted their revenge by staying away from Ratner shops. After the speech, the value of the Ratner group plummeted by around £500 million, which very nearly resulted in the firm's collapse. Ratner hired a chairman in an attempt to stabilise the situation, but was subsequently fired by the new company leader in November 1992. The group then changed its name to Signet Group in September 1993.

Today, Ratner's speech is still famous in the corporate world as an example of the value of branding and image over quality. Such gaffes are now sometimes called "doing a Ratner",and Ratner himself has acquired the sobriquet "The Sultan of Bling". Ratner has said in his defence that his remarks were not meant to be taken seriously. He also largely blamed the aggressiveness and deliberately wrongful interpretation of several media outlets for the severe consumer reaction.
Click to expand...

That was after the Grote shop in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin where he sold worthless items.
 
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