A close family friend of John Barnett said he predicted he might wind up dead and that a story could surface that he killed himself.
  • pickman_model@lemmy.world
    5·
    1 year ago

    pretty much exclusively white collar criminals.

    Very much so. It would be hard to believe they would do it themselves. However, enrolling the right assistance should not be too difficult for them. They even have access to more options than the average business executive.

    They went to business school, not the military.

    They are not military, but they have plenty of contacts there. Boeing is a big player in the military industry, they certainly know a lot of people in that world, both in government positions and the private sector.

    They don’t have gang or organized crime affiliations.

    Several of them don’t, but organized crime is within reach. Illegal recreational drugs are not uncommon in the business world. Dealers are more often than not connected to the organized crime. Networking in that world is something within business people’s skills.

    Hey, who knows, maybe some of those execs started working many years ago as humble machine gun and bazooka salespeople. And who knows what kind of interesting characters they met during those days. While totally not burying their heads into a mountain of white powder sitting in the middle of the table.

    driving him to suicide is much more likely.

    It is very likely. High stress would have played against him if he was being bullied or threatened. Also, less involved than having them murdered.

    it seems like the damage his death does is much higher than the damage his testimony would have done.

    Depends on what you consider damage here. The testimony could have been perceived as a threat to important business deals (and to bonuses). It is not infrequent to see executives caring only about their profits, even in detriment of the company as a whole.

    • merc@sh.itjust.works
      1·
      1 year ago

      They are not military, but they have plenty of contacts there.

      They may have contracts with generals, but not much in the way with soldiers on the ground. If it were a defence contractor that made small arms, then maybe. But, this is Boeing.

      Illegal recreational drugs are not uncommon in the business world

      Sure… but executives don’t go to the bad parts of town to get them. The guy they’re buying from is most likely someone who can travel in C-Suite circles and not draw attention. Maybe they’re also a member of the golf club and have a legitimate business as a cover. The execs aren’t getting in their Mercedes and cruising down to the ghetto to score. The dealers may have connections to organized crime, but not in a way that is obvious to anyone.

      Hey, who knows, maybe some of those execs started working many years ago as humble machine gun and bazooka salespeople.

      We know, their profiles are public.

      The Boeing CEO, David L. Calhoun:

      After graduating from college, Calhoun was hired by General Electric (GE). He decided to join GE in part because he would be working in Lehigh Valley in eastern Pennsylvania, where he grew up.[3] He worked at GE for 26 years, overseeing transportation, aircraft engines, reinsurance, lighting and other GE units, before being appointed vice chairman and a member of GE’s Board of Directors in 2005.[

      The COO, Stephanie Pope:

      Pope was an Eisenhower Fellow in Brussels and Ireland in 2008 and has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Southwest Missouri State University and a Master of Business Administration from Lindenwood University.

      Pope joined Boeing in 1994 and rose through the ranks to take on senior-level roles at all three of the company’s key businesses.

      The CFO, Brian West:

      West received a bachelor’s degree in finance from Siena College and a Master of Business Administration from the Columbia Business School.

      Previously, West spent 16 years at General Electric, where he served as chief financial officer of GE Aviation and chief financial officer of GE Engine Services.

      The Chair, Supply Chain Operations Council, William A. Ampofo II:

      Ampofo has a bachelor’s degree in finance from Adelphi University and a Master of Business Administration from George Washington University.

      Before joining The Boeing Company in April 2016, Ampofo spent 22 years at United Technologies Corporation (UTC), holding roles of increasing responsibility in finance, information technology, corporate strategy and operations at its corporate headquarters and its Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky and UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS) divisions.

      Just look through their execs and find anybody with even a hint of dirt under their fingernails:

      https://www.boeing.com/company/bios

      It is not infrequent to see executives caring only about their profits, even in detriment of the company as a whole.

      Sure, so they hire PR firms, and private investigators, and call up friendly reporters to try to get them to publish a negative article. They aren’t going to order a hit and make it look like a suicide.