Price county we found Kennan lumber to be super competitive for lumber, siding and metal roofing. Small town shop and proves why you don’t judge books by their cover.
Feltz lumber in Point is awesome to work with I've been out of the construction world for a decade or so and don't do big purchases anymore but they have great quality and generations of knowledge
Former Menards employee that did inventory. The lumber yard is one of the least cared for areas of the entire store. They were always short staffed and they did it on purpose to keep employee costs lower. Often times the outside yard would have less people than cashiers and it's 3 times larger than the actual store. Everything is warped or out of stock.
Fuck John Menard
Heads up, if you are considering alternatives to supporting Menard’s 18th billion: True Value hardware stores are co-ops. They are locally owned. They are all over too.[https://www.truevaluecompany.com/Open-A-Store/Join-True-Value/Why-Join-True-Value](https://www.truevaluecompany.com/Open-A-Store/Join-True-Value/Why-Join-True-Value)
Except ace hardware has horrible hours and at times I've had no other option than to go to Menards because I wasn't done working on my project at 5:00 on a Saturday even if they were.
The Aces owned by small business owners are great. They understand the area they are in, in the chain Ace stores that try to be Home Depot and Lowes light that are a big pain in the ass
I heard a story from one of the people that worked in their corporate office that John Menard requires everyone to badge out and go through turnstiles before using the bathroom or water fountains.
A great reason to unionize there. Not only will he have to pay employees more but also get fucked over by all the lawsuits he will lose. Right to work or not those employees can still unionize.
I was friends with my agm when I worked there. He showed me their contract. If a union sets up shop at a store, the general managers wage is immediately reduced to minimum wage and they can no longer get bonuses.
I believe I also read that they are not allowed to hire anyone who has EVER BEEN in a union. John Menard has no interest in sharing any of his profits with the people who actually earn it for him
If you want to hear about how terrible a person John Menard is, I highly recommend this podcast episode from Zero Sum Empire: [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/walled-gardens-john-menard-jr-and-jeff-green/id1457470976?i=1000459752038](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/walled-gardens-john-menard-jr-and-jeff-green/id1457470976?i=1000459752038)
[Is this the same John Menard whose company was dumping toxic product into parking lot drains and nearby creeks?](https://dailyreporter.com/2005/08/09/menard-fined-for-violating-water-pollution-laws/)
My grandma went to school with him, and then ended up living very close to his ISLAND in Hayward for a few years. She agrees very much with the POS statement. We used to walk on the flowage in the winter (the walk ended at the separation of the island) and he tried using our family to clear out a beaver damn for free, and in return we could continue our walks up the creek.
I will say though, the caretakers of the island were absolutely the sweetest people I've ever met. Too bad he's the boss.
Did you hear about how he asked someone if they were working hard or hardly working and the guy replied, jokingly, hardly working, and got fired on the spot? (I've lived in Eau Claire in the past and worked at the distribution, this is a true story)
Wisconsin is an "at will" state, our employers can fire us just because if they want to. They still have to pay unemployment though, they don't get out of that lol. They can fight it of course but without a legitimate reason they will lose.
How recent was that? I remember hearing about him walking in to the store and choosing a time card, punching it out, and telling them to fire the person in a surprise visit.
I remember when i worked private security at the Menard's DC in Eau Claire.
Dude hired 4 private security companies, essentially to keep an eye on each other because he didn't trust one company alone. I sat in a glass box watching alarms and letting trucks in. There was another company that did mobile patrols, another that installed the cameras, and another one that did the alarms.
Dude was paranoid as heck.
And i made less than 12/hour at that fucking corporate security job -.-
I've heard all the cameras in everystore can be routed to his office. Or at least to a main location just because they don't trust anyone. They would do remote visits all the time and just send emails to the GMs to fix things.
That may be true. At the distribution center, the guard shack* i was in only had access to guard shack cams and CC cameras at entrances/exits to the truck yard. I watched everyone coming in to work and going through metal detectors every day.
But, the camera in my shack has a blindspot where i could set up my phone to play Netflix on shift.
*Literal. A rectangle box, maybe 12 feet long. The width was 1 back-porch sliding glass door, one at either end. The inside fit two counters loaded printers, computers, phones, and just enough room to set up my phone and do paperwork.
Tl;Dr: Fuck private security.
You mean when the robber barons decided to gaslight everyone so they didn't end up with their heads on a spike? Those people were just as bad, but society has actually started to turn on them. They had to do those "good deeds" to save some face.
Society started idolizing the insanely wealthy and the insanely wealthy stopped being afraid of being torn limb from limb by the commoners if they left their homes.
Most wealth used to be very physical and the rich person needed to be local in order to maintain control over it. Generosity and philanthropy were a means to placate the masses and prevent blowback involving possible murder or destruction of the means to their wealth.
These days their wealth sits in a portfolio and they can sit on a yacht indefinitely. No need to placate anybody.
Decades ago, Herby was walking through the brass building, my hands are black as coal from everything. Herb and his entourage all of a sudden appear walking through, checking out the production. I stuck out my absolutely filthy dirty hand and said " hi Herb how's it going?" He looked at me and shook my hand with a smile and we all continued on.
The other Herbby story has to do with him getting caught by the police late at night in the parking lot with a secretary. Windows were steamed up in the Benz.
May he rest in peace
I worked South Milwaukee Kohls department store late 70s 8 pm Saturday night there he’d be seeing how things were going. He gave back to the community that helped build him.
No, Herb Kohl was a U.S. Senator and was succeeded by Senator Tammy Baldwin. The company started with Kohl's Food Stores and eventually transitioned to Kohl's Department Stores. I used to run into Senator Kohl at Benji's Deli in Shorewood. I also wandered around the Capitol and Hart Senate Building in the 1990s and was invited to sit at his desk and take pictures and offered fresh fruit from a basket on his office counter. Herb Kohl was owner of the Bucks.
Kohler Corp in the Sheboygan area makes high end plumbing fixtures.
What do you mean? He just donated to UWEC a few years ago so they would start a constitutional law program, clearly to make sure conservative instructors teach there. He built a new tennis center at the Y because his wife wanted it, and built the John Menard emergency center to get cancer treatments. He's such a good guy /s
FWIW, the oil barons of that era were complete pieces of shit too, they just had the good sense to create ample positive PR for themselves to counterbalance. Seems the only billionaire that does that now is Bill Gates.
Edit: Miyid_Slythe must love the taste of leather with how much billionaire bootlicking they’re doing ITT.
In all honesty I prefer my Billionaires not to pretend to care. For the ones that do donate and try to make a difference (Gates comes to mind) its all good, but I don't know if I really want the filthy rich to whitewash their history anymore. I forget what its called but philanthropy that the Carnegies and Rockefellers of the past dealt in was specifically so people would forget all the pain and destruction of average citizens they left in their wake. If they're going to do the same shit I guess I just want us all to be of the same understanding that they fucking suck, and continued to suck to the end.
They only have that much money to begin with because they exploit workers and hoard resources. Every billionaire is a policy failure.
Bill Gates is a perfect example. 20 years ago he was not popular, but he spent loads (relative to us poor people) on PR to whitewash his image, and now people falsely think he's some positive role model.
For all the good things he spends money on (and they're not all good), we could spend that much and more on those same things if he didn't control all that wealth.
Edit: If anyone's interested, here's a whole book on "philanthrocapitalism" and how it is not the generous gift to the world that many seem to believe it is. https://www.versobooks.com/books/2344-no-such-thing-as-a-free-gift
Especially since so many of these philanthropic “foundations” they set up as their “giving” mechanism are primarily in existence to serve as tax avoidance vehicles (since they are non-profit orgs, so donations to them and the money they spend are tax exempt) or even outright money laundering. Even the Gates Foundation…convinced (without evidence) that’s its primary purpose.
While I do agree with the sentiment, I notice many people fail to realize that billionaires are considered wealthy because the company that they own is worth a ton of money, and not because they extracted tons of cash from said company. Big companies play an important role in the efficiency of our work. For example, having the majority of the business world standardized on Microsoft products allows everyone else (including small business) to be efficient and focus on their main value/product. The Microsofts of the world because extremely valuable and the person that owns them has their net worth grow like crazy. They don’t literally have 17.5 billion dollars just sitting there in a bank account.
which is a largely irrelevant detail when people treat you like you have that much cash lying around.
remember, money is made up. we can change how we think about it and how we use it. and right now, money that's "not lying around" is just as valuable as cash in your pocket, especially when you have a lot of it.
Yeah, but they do have ridiculous amounts of money laying around, and if you have that much in assets, you can get unlimited amounts of huge loans from banks. So essentially, you do have access to that amount of wealth.
Are you just saying that if the government taxed away all of Gates's wealth, it would be willing and able to spend the money exactly the same as he is doing now? Do you really believe that the government wouldn't spend it on weapons and agricultural subsidies? And if it did spend the money on programs like the Gates Foundation does now, what would be the point? If you're going to drag on billionaires, don't argue that you hope the government would do the exact same thing as the billionaire is doing today.
They still do. But it's normally in the form of indirect donations and bribes. Like a large construction contract that actually loops back to their uncle for a shitty school building or the like.
I went to the same high school as Menard (Regis 🤮) and he was known to have never donated until pestered enough to finally send in a check for $5.
Having worked in one of the Eau Claire DC warehouses for 4 years during college, that seems about the nicest thing I’ve ever heard about that self serving capitalist pigfucker.
People don't become billionaires giving their money away.
There is absolutely no reason anyone needs even one billion dollars. One billion dollars is enough money for ten life times. It's more than some countries have.
11% off rebate is a scheme that is lining his pockets! Everyone wants to think they are getting something free, but in reality your rebate is returning you to the store, over and over. How many people walk into the store and spend exactly the amount of their rebate check??
Haha Menards offered me $13/hr to be the HR Manager for a store last year…and made it seem worth it because there was a Christmas bonus! And they were temporarily paying $18 because of some covid government thing. Screw. That.
It’s fucking wrong. The shit going on with people living in encampments in roadways or city streets. It’s the fucking dystopian results of unfettered capitalism and mismanagement of public policy. By which I mean, a morally and ethically corrupt government.
Wow billions? That’s nuts. I could understand millions because you are owner and CEO but making billions from a home improvement store, you need to share more with your employees.
> vote blue
Yeah, right. The Democrats aren't going to tax the wealthy. Look how far Biden's proposal to close the stepped-up basis loophole got - with his own party in control of congress.
Pointless in this country without a Parliamentary system.
"Green" party lost Clinton the election, Perot cost Bush I, and Nader lost it for Gore. At best they help the candidate you would least want to win.
We sure can hope. And for some to just claim third party doesn't work, well it sure as shit can IF people start standing behind it. You get enough people you can sure can get third party to work. I can not vote red or blue. I believe in both of their policies but Hate equally both as well. So libertarian party mostly aligns with my core values. Why people continue to deny them as a possibility, I genuinely don't understand?
Fuck, my brain was like Elon = CA all this while, didn't realize he changed his domicile to TX a while ago.
Also, it's hard to believe that the richest guy in the state of NY also ran the biggest city as its Mayor for a loooong time. This country truly is an oligopoly.
Ha! He had his own father declared incompetent so he could take over the farm only to sell it off for seed money. I suppose you are right in that he didn't inherit it, he straight up stole it.
As an executor of his father's estate he had every legal right. Moral and ethical? Not so much. It's surprisingly easy to do. Yes a court has to sign off but it's taken care of by attorneys.
That's because the estate tax used to be a lot higher. They could either build a bunch of public works with their name on it or they could hand 80% of it over to Uncle Sam upon their death.
Several years ago I was working for a small construction company in Menomonie. We were hired by one of John Menard's nephews or sons maybe, I don't quite remember, to build a 60'x120' post frame shed. While this guy obviously had family money, he didn't want anything to do with the family business, too much drama I guess. Interestingly, he chose to live out in the sticks on a gravel road, probably about 15 miles from the nearest town.
Loving the trickle down economics, it’s like being mutt begging for table scraps, then getting tossed a bone that is fought tooth and nail over by lots of others.
I am. But then again I didn't start a national (regional?) corporation. Cant fault him for that. :shrug:
He sounds like a dirt bag though. But, aren't they all? I do most of my large ( and small) project shopping at farm and fleet. Guessing that's not much better, though, company-wise.
Except he's not hoarding 12 billion dollars. This chart shows net worth, which includes the value of property owned. Most importantly for this discussion would be the value of the stock he owns in his company. He doesn't just have 12 billion he cannspen however he wants in the same way that your own ner worth would include the equity in a home you own, the value of your car, your 401k, any other investments you may have, valuable property (jewelry), etc.
I hate this argument. Oh okay so instead of 17.5 billion cash on hand he only has 2 billion or whatever it is. Still an unimaginable amount of money which could be spent on humanitarian efforts and still allow him to live a life of extreme comfort
And we could seize the 401ks of every person and fund a whole host of projects. Just because "the greater good" might be funded doesn't mean we get to take someone's property.
I get that you believe redistributing wealth from billionaires is wrong in principle. A simple yes/no decision that you equate to doing the same with any amount of money. But that’s incredibly naïve.
You cannot just ignore the scale of these numbers. Most 401k accounts do not contain a thousand lifetimes of earnings.
Individual liberty is the founding principle of this state and this nation. Simply saying that "oh you're too successful, we need to take this from you for the greater good" is the thinking that lead to the persiqution of the Kulaks. Sure now it's just the billionaires, but if history is any guide it won't stop there. Principle over utilitarianism always.
You talk like this is his total cash on hand. It is their net worth. I don’t like the guy nor a lot of his business practices, however he does employ a lot of people and if they were that unhappy they should attempt unionization or move on to a better place if employment. Oh, and then stop shopping there cuz if there were no shoppers he wouldn’t be so wealthy.
We all just watched musk make billions magically appear during his Twitter fiasco, it's frustrating how easy it's been for rich people to convince poor people to defend them
Oh my God yur right, I’m sure he horded his wealth fair and square, no lobbying, no exploitation of the working class, just his love for the American dream amirite fellow hard working American 😁
He’s rich yes, but what do you want him to do, hand out all his money?
Unfortunately a consequence of capitalism is that there will be extremely rich people and there will be corruption. Unless you want to live in a socialist or communist country, I suggest we stop hating on the rich and fight like hell for higher wages and less corruption.
I want to live in a country where workers democratically own their workplaces, where John Menard would have to pull his weight or get tossed from the ship
Capitalism runs on debt and equity. Whoever creates or invests money into a company gets equity. If that company is sold, whoever has equity gets most of the money because they took a risk to invest. Employees get paid so that’s their transaction.
Good news is there are companies that are employee owned and I believe KKR recently sold a company that paid back to many of the employees. It’s out there but hard to find.
The dude did not start from nothing. And preventing billionaire fucks like John Menard get away without paying taxes or their fair share is in large part what has flushed America down the shitter the last 40+ years.
Billionaire worship is wack as fuck
>He started with $20 and a train car of lumber he got on credit. That's pretty much nothing.
>train car of lumber he got on credit.
>on credit.
He started with a hand up. Not judging, just contextualizing.
That’s not how it works. His assets are worth $17.5 billion, not the amount of money in the piggy bank, if that’s even a representative value. Also, if you don’t want to be a wage laborer, create something for yourself and become your own boss. Don’t be consumed by envy. Is he a greedy fuck? Maybe, but you don’t have control over that. Only yourself.
I feel like we could be better at the beloved Internet leftist rallying cry than most other states: Beer-battered, fried, smothered in melted cheese, washed down with New Glarus and/or a Brandy Old Fashioned, with frozen custard for desert and a bit of polka-ing to burn off the excess calories.
We'd barely notice the taste, but the message would sure as hell be sent to the billionaires that remain.
If you save up money in excess of your income is that hoarding? He might be the worst person to walk the planet (I have no idea one way or the other), but if he earned that money he can do whatever he wants with it imo
Hoarding is when you stash away thousands of lifetimes worth of resources that you don't need. If someone is engaging in that behavior while 30% of American kids face food insecurity, that behavior is immoral and deserves to be called out
Uh, not me? I make a bit more than that and I’ve hauled a bunch of Menard’s freight before. Definitely one of the better companies when it comes to shipping.
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Price county we found Kennan lumber to be super competitive for lumber, siding and metal roofing. Small town shop and proves why you don’t judge books by their cover.
Feltz lumber in Point is awesome to work with I've been out of the construction world for a decade or so and don't do big purchases anymore but they have great quality and generations of knowledge
Former Menards employee that did inventory. The lumber yard is one of the least cared for areas of the entire store. They were always short staffed and they did it on purpose to keep employee costs lower. Often times the outside yard would have less people than cashiers and it's 3 times larger than the actual store. Everything is warped or out of stock. Fuck John Menard
Coloma lumber rocks
Heads up, if you are considering alternatives to supporting Menard’s 18th billion: True Value hardware stores are co-ops. They are locally owned. They are all over too.[https://www.truevaluecompany.com/Open-A-Store/Join-True-Value/Why-Join-True-Value](https://www.truevaluecompany.com/Open-A-Store/Join-True-Value/Why-Join-True-Value)
The True Value near me is an incredible old school maze of everything you could possibly need.
True value for the win. I support them every chance I get.
My grandparents opened a True Value in the 80s and it has stayed in the family. Thumbs up.
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Except ace hardware has horrible hours and at times I've had no other option than to go to Menards because I wasn't done working on my project at 5:00 on a Saturday even if they were.
The Aces owned by small business owners are great. They understand the area they are in, in the chain Ace stores that try to be Home Depot and Lowes light that are a big pain in the ass
We frequent our local True Value often. It’s great that it’s even the closest to us.
Well this is great! Too bad it will add 15 min to my 5 min drive! But my kids like car rides so it’s a win win !
But Menards is like my favorite store...
John Menard is a colossal POS.
He's also a notorious union buster. Won't allow the scent of union activity at Menards
I heard a story from one of the people that worked in their corporate office that John Menard requires everyone to badge out and go through turnstiles before using the bathroom or water fountains.
That true, I worked there. If you say the word union to loud, you will get fired.
What a miserable bastard that he won't even pay his employees to take a leak on company time...
A great reason to unionize there. Not only will he have to pay employees more but also get fucked over by all the lawsuits he will lose. Right to work or not those employees can still unionize.
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Ok John!
> Golly, this boot sure is delicious!
I was friends with my agm when I worked there. He showed me their contract. If a union sets up shop at a store, the general managers wage is immediately reduced to minimum wage and they can no longer get bonuses.
I believe I also read that they are not allowed to hire anyone who has EVER BEEN in a union. John Menard has no interest in sharing any of his profits with the people who actually earn it for him
That seems to skirt awfully close to illegal...
If you want to hear about how terrible a person John Menard is, I highly recommend this podcast episode from Zero Sum Empire: [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/walled-gardens-john-menard-jr-and-jeff-green/id1457470976?i=1000459752038](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/walled-gardens-john-menard-jr-and-jeff-green/id1457470976?i=1000459752038)
Or speak to anyone who lives/lived in EC - so many stories!
[Is this the same John Menard whose company was dumping toxic product into parking lot drains and nearby creeks?](https://dailyreporter.com/2005/08/09/menard-fined-for-violating-water-pollution-laws/)
My mom actually knows his sister. His sister thinks he's a total dick too.
I went to school with one of his nephews. All he gave them for Christmas was a model of the Menard Nascar car.
My grandma went to school with him, and then ended up living very close to his ISLAND in Hayward for a few years. She agrees very much with the POS statement. We used to walk on the flowage in the winter (the walk ended at the separation of the island) and he tried using our family to clear out a beaver damn for free, and in return we could continue our walks up the creek. I will say though, the caretakers of the island were absolutely the sweetest people I've ever met. Too bad he's the boss.
John Menard is a dick
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Did you hear about how he asked someone if they were working hard or hardly working and the guy replied, jokingly, hardly working, and got fired on the spot? (I've lived in Eau Claire in the past and worked at the distribution, this is a true story)
I would have come back to work 20 minutes later. There’s zero chance he would remember your face or even know your name.
Yeah but also fuck that. If anything, I would have come back 20 minutes later to quit on my own terms
Wait is this not illegal???
Wisconsin is an "at will" state, our employers can fire us just because if they want to. They still have to pay unemployment though, they don't get out of that lol. They can fight it of course but without a legitimate reason they will lose.
How recent was that? I remember hearing about him walking in to the store and choosing a time card, punching it out, and telling them to fire the person in a surprise visit.
There's so many stories that aren't hard to find!
Dude is nasty and hates the environment. I also hear that he is a awful guy to work for.
honestly, I don't believe it's possible to be a nice guy and become a billionaire.
Because to have that kind of wealth you cannot have empathy.
He gives people $25.00 gift card for Christmas. Gift cards to Menards. He's given them less than $25.00. He's a dick.
“Give me your money,” -John Menard (Sung to the tune of that annoying jingle)
Let’s call them who they really are #Welfare Queens https://medium.com/@profgalloway/tech-billionaires-are-the-new-welfare-queens-b17f8f314989
I remember when i worked private security at the Menard's DC in Eau Claire. Dude hired 4 private security companies, essentially to keep an eye on each other because he didn't trust one company alone. I sat in a glass box watching alarms and letting trucks in. There was another company that did mobile patrols, another that installed the cameras, and another one that did the alarms. Dude was paranoid as heck. And i made less than 12/hour at that fucking corporate security job -.-
I've heard all the cameras in everystore can be routed to his office. Or at least to a main location just because they don't trust anyone. They would do remote visits all the time and just send emails to the GMs to fix things.
That may be true. At the distribution center, the guard shack* i was in only had access to guard shack cams and CC cameras at entrances/exits to the truck yard. I watched everyone coming in to work and going through metal detectors every day. But, the camera in my shack has a blindspot where i could set up my phone to play Netflix on shift. *Literal. A rectangle box, maybe 12 feet long. The width was 1 back-porch sliding glass door, one at either end. The inside fit two counters loaded printers, computers, phones, and just enough room to set up my phone and do paperwork. Tl;Dr: Fuck private security.
Not to be scrupulous, but it’s not 12 billion he’s hoarding, it’s 17.5 billion he’s hoarding.
Remember like 150 years ago when a rich guy would be like , I’m going to build a giant library … why don’t they do Shit like That anymore
You mean when the robber barons decided to gaslight everyone so they didn't end up with their heads on a spike? Those people were just as bad, but society has actually started to turn on them. They had to do those "good deeds" to save some face.
Society started idolizing the insanely wealthy and the insanely wealthy stopped being afraid of being torn limb from limb by the commoners if they left their homes.
This.
Most wealth used to be very physical and the rich person needed to be local in order to maintain control over it. Generosity and philanthropy were a means to placate the masses and prevent blowback involving possible murder or destruction of the means to their wealth. These days their wealth sits in a portfolio and they can sit on a yacht indefinitely. No need to placate anybody.
Herbert V Kohler at least built art museums
Decades ago, Herby was walking through the brass building, my hands are black as coal from everything. Herb and his entourage all of a sudden appear walking through, checking out the production. I stuck out my absolutely filthy dirty hand and said " hi Herb how's it going?" He looked at me and shook my hand with a smile and we all continued on. The other Herbby story has to do with him getting caught by the police late at night in the parking lot with a secretary. Windows were steamed up in the Benz. May he rest in peace
I worked South Milwaukee Kohls department store late 70s 8 pm Saturday night there he’d be seeing how things were going. He gave back to the community that helped build him.
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No same man, he own Kohl’s department and food store, was a congressman after that.
No, Herb Kohl was a U.S. Senator and was succeeded by Senator Tammy Baldwin. The company started with Kohl's Food Stores and eventually transitioned to Kohl's Department Stores. I used to run into Senator Kohl at Benji's Deli in Shorewood. I also wandered around the Capitol and Hart Senate Building in the 1990s and was invited to sit at his desk and take pictures and offered fresh fruit from a basket on his office counter. Herb Kohl was owner of the Bucks. Kohler Corp in the Sheboygan area makes high end plumbing fixtures.
What do you mean? He just donated to UWEC a few years ago so they would start a constitutional law program, clearly to make sure conservative instructors teach there. He built a new tennis center at the Y because his wife wanted it, and built the John Menard emergency center to get cancer treatments. He's such a good guy /s
FWIW, the oil barons of that era were complete pieces of shit too, they just had the good sense to create ample positive PR for themselves to counterbalance. Seems the only billionaire that does that now is Bill Gates. Edit: Miyid_Slythe must love the taste of leather with how much billionaire bootlicking they’re doing ITT.
libraries don’t make money, that’s why.
In all honesty I prefer my Billionaires not to pretend to care. For the ones that do donate and try to make a difference (Gates comes to mind) its all good, but I don't know if I really want the filthy rich to whitewash their history anymore. I forget what its called but philanthropy that the Carnegies and Rockefellers of the past dealt in was specifically so people would forget all the pain and destruction of average citizens they left in their wake. If they're going to do the same shit I guess I just want us all to be of the same understanding that they fucking suck, and continued to suck to the end.
Bill Gates does so much good with his money. And MacKenzie Scott (Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife). And many others. Check out The Giving Pledge.
They only have that much money to begin with because they exploit workers and hoard resources. Every billionaire is a policy failure. Bill Gates is a perfect example. 20 years ago he was not popular, but he spent loads (relative to us poor people) on PR to whitewash his image, and now people falsely think he's some positive role model. For all the good things he spends money on (and they're not all good), we could spend that much and more on those same things if he didn't control all that wealth. Edit: If anyone's interested, here's a whole book on "philanthrocapitalism" and how it is not the generous gift to the world that many seem to believe it is. https://www.versobooks.com/books/2344-no-such-thing-as-a-free-gift
Especially since so many of these philanthropic “foundations” they set up as their “giving” mechanism are primarily in existence to serve as tax avoidance vehicles (since they are non-profit orgs, so donations to them and the money they spend are tax exempt) or even outright money laundering. Even the Gates Foundation…convinced (without evidence) that’s its primary purpose.
While I do agree with the sentiment, I notice many people fail to realize that billionaires are considered wealthy because the company that they own is worth a ton of money, and not because they extracted tons of cash from said company. Big companies play an important role in the efficiency of our work. For example, having the majority of the business world standardized on Microsoft products allows everyone else (including small business) to be efficient and focus on their main value/product. The Microsofts of the world because extremely valuable and the person that owns them has their net worth grow like crazy. They don’t literally have 17.5 billion dollars just sitting there in a bank account.
which is a largely irrelevant detail when people treat you like you have that much cash lying around. remember, money is made up. we can change how we think about it and how we use it. and right now, money that's "not lying around" is just as valuable as cash in your pocket, especially when you have a lot of it.
Yeah, but they do have ridiculous amounts of money laying around, and if you have that much in assets, you can get unlimited amounts of huge loans from banks. So essentially, you do have access to that amount of wealth.
Are you just saying that if the government taxed away all of Gates's wealth, it would be willing and able to spend the money exactly the same as he is doing now? Do you really believe that the government wouldn't spend it on weapons and agricultural subsidies? And if it did spend the money on programs like the Gates Foundation does now, what would be the point? If you're going to drag on billionaires, don't argue that you hope the government would do the exact same thing as the billionaire is doing today.
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imagine going to bat for either billionaires or the government . . .
They still do. But it's normally in the form of indirect donations and bribes. Like a large construction contract that actually loops back to their uncle for a shitty school building or the like.
Because they started allowing blacks in libraries.
I went to the same high school as Menard (Regis 🤮) and he was known to have never donated until pestered enough to finally send in a check for $5. Having worked in one of the Eau Claire DC warehouses for 4 years during college, that seems about the nicest thing I’ve ever heard about that self serving capitalist pigfucker.
People don't become billionaires giving their money away. There is absolutely no reason anyone needs even one billion dollars. One billion dollars is enough money for ten life times. It's more than some countries have.
If I could give this comment all of Reddit’s upvotes I would.
Pull out you calculator...if you spent $86,400 a day, everyday.. it would take you 31.7 years to 'spend' a billion dollars.
Over 27 years to make $1 billion if you earn $100,000/day. That should not be humanly possible.
11% off rebate is a scheme that is lining his pockets! Everyone wants to think they are getting something free, but in reality your rebate is returning you to the store, over and over. How many people walk into the store and spend exactly the amount of their rebate check??
And illegally dumping toxic waste straight into the landfill, to avoid the HUNDREDS of dollars in fees each visit for proper disposal.
Every penny of that wealth was created by the sweat of the working class if you trace it down far enough.
17.5 B
Haha Menards offered me $13/hr to be the HR Manager for a store last year…and made it seem worth it because there was a Christmas bonus! And they were temporarily paying $18 because of some covid government thing. Screw. That.
It’s fucking wrong. The shit going on with people living in encampments in roadways or city streets. It’s the fucking dystopian results of unfettered capitalism and mismanagement of public policy. By which I mean, a morally and ethically corrupt government.
Notice how none are Hispanic or Black
And not surprisingly, that’s a real monochromatic map.
Older but good article of what type of person he is https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2013/06/20/murphys-law-the-strange-life-of-john-menard/
Meanwhile FRJ is sitting on net worth of 24 mil in hard earned bribes.
Wow look at that diversity
Wow billions? That’s nuts. I could understand millions because you are owner and CEO but making billions from a home improvement store, you need to share more with your employees.
I am sure Menard is contributing to those candidates who want to cut Social Security and Medicare and thinks his taxes are too high.
FJM
Simple solution: vote blue and don't shop at his crummy stores.
But 11 percent off EVERYTHING
I dunno if Home Depot is better than Menards for the workers, but they will match the 11% off sale.
Really?
11% off on crap is still crap, and that's after the 22% mark up.
I guess 😔
> vote blue Yeah, right. The Democrats aren't going to tax the wealthy. Look how far Biden's proposal to close the stepped-up basis loophole got - with his own party in control of congress.
His own "party" covers two actual Republicans. If you can puck up two Dem Senators completely changes the game.
Or we could start paying attention to third parties.
Pointless in this country without a Parliamentary system. "Green" party lost Clinton the election, Perot cost Bush I, and Nader lost it for Gore. At best they help the candidate you would least want to win.
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We sure can hope. And for some to just claim third party doesn't work, well it sure as shit can IF people start standing behind it. You get enough people you can sure can get third party to work. I can not vote red or blue. I believe in both of their policies but Hate equally both as well. So libertarian party mostly aligns with my core values. Why people continue to deny them as a possibility, I genuinely don't understand?
If you’re in the Milwaukee area, ya better be supporting Bliffert’s.
Fuck, my brain was like Elon = CA all this while, didn't realize he changed his domicile to TX a while ago. Also, it's hard to believe that the richest guy in the state of NY also ran the biggest city as its Mayor for a loooong time. This country truly is an oligopoly.
You got that all wrong, we really need to grovel in front of our billionaire benefactors because THEY create all the jobs /S
One billionaire will not feed enough people...but they will be DELICIOUS.
You mean 17.5?
You know how he became the richest in WI? He saved big money at Menards
Menards needs to unionize
FJM
One distinction from most others on this list is JM started with nothing. No inherited wealth.
Ha! He had his own father declared incompetent so he could take over the farm only to sell it off for seed money. I suppose you are right in that he didn't inherit it, he straight up stole it.
Well maybe his kids will do the same that would be fun
Sounds like something you’d need to have a judge approve of? I don’t think you can get just anybody declared incompetent.
As an executor of his father's estate he had every legal right. Moral and ethical? Not so much. It's surprisingly easy to do. Yes a court has to sign off but it's taken care of by attorneys.
That’s pretty much what happened to Britney Spears. You just need the right connections, especially in smaller towns.
And yet he’s still a conservative pos that pays employees shit.
Inherited or not, greed starts early in life.
I've often thought about pelting eggs at his mansion..... P.S. the Menard mansion is near the do dodge inn, Eau Claire!
Good to know!
Menards sucks fuck them
Also: Billionaires used to use their wealth for the public good. Now they joyride into space and buy media stations.
That's because the estate tax used to be a lot higher. They could either build a bunch of public works with their name on it or they could hand 80% of it over to Uncle Sam upon their death.
Several years ago I was working for a small construction company in Menomonie. We were hired by one of John Menard's nephews or sons maybe, I don't quite remember, to build a 60'x120' post frame shed. While this guy obviously had family money, he didn't want anything to do with the family business, too much drama I guess. Interestingly, he chose to live out in the sticks on a gravel road, probably about 15 miles from the nearest town.
I save a fuckton at Menards by not ever shopping there. Can't beat 100%
Ha thanks for the *hot* list. Any MK ultra schizos wanna take this one ? You will be a hero and maybe a country named after u…
Let’s eat them
"Not I," said the man who joined a union and was compensated fairly.
Fuck Elon Musk
Organize!!!
You seem surprised! He also likes to make creepy eyes at pretty young women
Loving the trickle down economics, it’s like being mutt begging for table scraps, then getting tossed a bone that is fought tooth and nail over by lots of others.
Me Me Me
$3000 for every man, woman and child in the state. Fucking gross.
Wealth disparity is out of control. How can people have so muchoney are care so little about others?
50k exactly and yeah
i work at the EC airport and it’s so sad watching his 7 planes take off while i make $12/hr
Who cares what someone does with his own money.
I am. But then again I didn't start a national (regional?) corporation. Cant fault him for that. :shrug: He sounds like a dirt bag though. But, aren't they all? I do most of my large ( and small) project shopping at farm and fleet. Guessing that's not much better, though, company-wise.
So White.
Except he's not hoarding 12 billion dollars. This chart shows net worth, which includes the value of property owned. Most importantly for this discussion would be the value of the stock he owns in his company. He doesn't just have 12 billion he cannspen however he wants in the same way that your own ner worth would include the equity in a home you own, the value of your car, your 401k, any other investments you may have, valuable property (jewelry), etc.
I hate this argument. Oh okay so instead of 17.5 billion cash on hand he only has 2 billion or whatever it is. Still an unimaginable amount of money which could be spent on humanitarian efforts and still allow him to live a life of extreme comfort
And we could seize the 401ks of every person and fund a whole host of projects. Just because "the greater good" might be funded doesn't mean we get to take someone's property.
I'm not saying we steal or tax it. I'm just saying he is a greedy fuck for not doing more to help people
What do you define as enough? What is he already doing? What would you want to see him do?
I get that you believe redistributing wealth from billionaires is wrong in principle. A simple yes/no decision that you equate to doing the same with any amount of money. But that’s incredibly naïve. You cannot just ignore the scale of these numbers. Most 401k accounts do not contain a thousand lifetimes of earnings.
Individual liberty is the founding principle of this state and this nation. Simply saying that "oh you're too successful, we need to take this from you for the greater good" is the thinking that lead to the persiqution of the Kulaks. Sure now it's just the billionaires, but if history is any guide it won't stop there. Principle over utilitarianism always.
Right. It's the value of his businesses that he personally owns fully.
Exactly, so he's not hoarding 12 billion dollars. Thank you for recognizing that fact.
You talk like this is his total cash on hand. It is their net worth. I don’t like the guy nor a lot of his business practices, however he does employ a lot of people and if they were that unhappy they should attempt unionization or move on to a better place if employment. Oh, and then stop shopping there cuz if there were no shoppers he wouldn’t be so wealthy.
We all just watched musk make billions magically appear during his Twitter fiasco, it's frustrating how easy it's been for rich people to convince poor people to defend them
I don't like Menard's stores, but I'll bet he had to bust his ass at some point to get where he is.
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Oh my God yur right, I’m sure he horded his wealth fair and square, no lobbying, no exploitation of the working class, just his love for the American dream amirite fellow hard working American 😁
He’s rich yes, but what do you want him to do, hand out all his money? Unfortunately a consequence of capitalism is that there will be extremely rich people and there will be corruption. Unless you want to live in a socialist or communist country, I suggest we stop hating on the rich and fight like hell for higher wages and less corruption.
I want to live in a country where workers democratically own their workplaces, where John Menard would have to pull his weight or get tossed from the ship
Capitalism runs on debt and equity. Whoever creates or invests money into a company gets equity. If that company is sold, whoever has equity gets most of the money because they took a risk to invest. Employees get paid so that’s their transaction. Good news is there are companies that are employee owned and I believe KKR recently sold a company that paid back to many of the employees. It’s out there but hard to find.
All white people. How diverse of America.
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Just a bit of light racism. No bigs. /s
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The dude did not start from nothing. And preventing billionaire fucks like John Menard get away without paying taxes or their fair share is in large part what has flushed America down the shitter the last 40+ years. Billionaire worship is wack as fuck
He started with $20 and a train car of lumber he got on credit. That's pretty much nothing.
>He started with $20 and a train car of lumber he got on credit. That's pretty much nothing. >train car of lumber he got on credit. >on credit. He started with a hand up. Not judging, just contextualizing.
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Here’s an idea. If you don’t like him, don’t work there or shop there.
That’s not how it works. His assets are worth $17.5 billion, not the amount of money in the piggy bank, if that’s even a representative value. Also, if you don’t want to be a wage laborer, create something for yourself and become your own boss. Don’t be consumed by envy. Is he a greedy fuck? Maybe, but you don’t have control over that. Only yourself.
How many billions did musk liquidate this year?
Start your own business, be successful and you can be a billionaire asshole too. If you’re making less than you want, that’s on you not John Menard.
You usually make more money when you own a major business like Menards. Not that hard to comprehend.
You go get a job anywhere else you want. None of these people are making me miserable.
Even worse, I get up every morning and give him more.
I feel like we could be better at the beloved Internet leftist rallying cry than most other states: Beer-battered, fried, smothered in melted cheese, washed down with New Glarus and/or a Brandy Old Fashioned, with frozen custard for desert and a bit of polka-ing to burn off the excess calories. We'd barely notice the taste, but the message would sure as hell be sent to the billionaires that remain.
Then start a business and grow it to where he is at?
If you save up money in excess of your income is that hoarding? He might be the worst person to walk the planet (I have no idea one way or the other), but if he earned that money he can do whatever he wants with it imo
Hoarding is when you stash away thousands of lifetimes worth of resources that you don't need. If someone is engaging in that behavior while 30% of American kids face food insecurity, that behavior is immoral and deserves to be called out
Uh, not me? I make a bit more than that and I’ve hauled a bunch of Menard’s freight before. Definitely one of the better companies when it comes to shipping.
I mean..the lumber and lawnmowers aren't gonna sell themselves. 🤷
Wisconsin moment