A few years ago I worked for a guy who was just a real crook and total POS. I left a little bit into the pandemic after it became abundantly clear he would stand on everybody else’s head to keep his own above water.
I used to be part of an admin team of about 8 that managed his 4 franchise locations. Since I left, he consolidated the team down to 3 with all the extra work going to my buddy and his wife and the only compensation going to the CFO (equally sleazy, she was the one “burying the bodies” for him). I felt bad when my buddy told me, but also, he knew better. We had discussed the kind of person the boss was a lot.
Anyways, lately the boss started showing up more, taking meetings with people at the locations, requesting data and reports… all things he would never normally do. My buddy approached him, asking if he was entertaining an offer to sell, and if so if he could give him notice so he could make arrangements. He and his wife were looking to possibly buy a house and just had their second child. Boss told him he wasn’t selling and not to worry.
You may have guessed it. It wasn’t long before he announced that the franchisor had offered him a generous amount for his remaining 3 locations (he sold one already at a loss which was due directly to his poor ownership) and it would be closing very soon.
My buddy confronted him and was met with “it’s not my problem and I don’t really care”. He also cut the budgets, skimped on orders and pushed out any bills he could, trying to suck out all the money he possibly could. Fortunately my buddy and his wife got a job with another franchise owner within a couple weeks, out of state, and for more money.
Now for the karma. At the 11th hour, the franchisor revoked their offer and let my old boss know they were no longer interested in purchasing any of his locations. Queue the attempted damage control, calling all the staff he had burnt to try and climb out of the massive hole he had dug. As far as I heard, only the CFO stuck around and between the 2 of them, it’s going to take more work and time in the office than either of them have done in quite some time to recover from what he did. Personally, I hope the ship continues to sink and they both get a small taste of what they deserve.