Naveen’s Wild Ride

Posted on by

Regular Sepia Mutiny commentor Santhosh Daniel points us at the decidedly less than flattering special report at the Seattle Times documenting the rise and fall of Infospace & it’s Rock Star CEO – Naveen Jain – naveen.jpg

In spring 1999, Jain and his wife went on a house-shopping cruise around Lake Washington, docking at several multimillion-dollar mansions for sale. One home, owned by saxophonist Kenny G, had, among other touches, an automatic toilet-paper dispenser. The Jains preferred something different and latched onto a 1.3-acre Medina estate called Diamanti — Greek for diamond — buying it for $13 million. The mansion boasted 16,500 square feet of space and a two-story garage. The garage shared a glass wall with the house so the owner could display an auto collection.

If the stuff in the story is even half true, Naveen deserves lock up time that would make Martha Stewart’s 5 months seem like a quaint vacation.

7 thoughts on “Naveen’s Wild Ride”

  1. Naveen Jain grew up in a culture mired in bribery and corruption, yet in a religion that deplores dishonesty. Born in 1959, Jain lived in villages throughout Uttar Pradesh, one of India’s largest and least literate provinces. His family takes its name from their religion, Jainism, whose followers take vows to abstain from stealing, violence and telling lies.

    I thought that was a weird thing to include in the article – but maybe that’s just me.

    And here’s what I really wish the article explained:

    Rather than investigate Jain for misconduct, the federal Securities and Exchange Commission aided Jain in court after he hired a prominent former SEC lawyer to lobby the agency.

    Whaa??

    -D

  2. I thought that was a weird thing to include in the article – but maybe that’s just me.

    Yeah, nice framing by the ST to make Jain look like an even bigger jerk. It’s like saying, “Not only did he deceive the public, but he did so after being raised in a religion that semi-contractualizes honesty. The HORROR! WHAT A POMPOUS ASS!!1!”

    But really though, what good is money if you get it without deceiving people? What is wealth if you can’t use it to aid you in wiping your own ass? Seriously guys.

    Based on the accounts, this guy seems like a jerk, regardless of what transpires after this story.

    I do wish the story was better written, though.

  3. Yeah, nice framing by the ST to make Jain look like an even bigger jerk.

    It’s a legitimate thing to put in the story, given how revered devout Jains are. It’s like an Amish or Hasidic man caught stealing, that’s news.

  4. It’s like an Amish or Hasidic man caught stealing, that’s news.

    I don’t dispute that it’s a legitimate thing to put in the story. However, it’s apparent that it was put there not to aid their overall story, but to make Jain look that much worse in the readers’ eyes.

    And, this isn’t just some Jain who was caught lying. It’s a guy – a corporate executive – that allegedly committed corporate fraud to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s news regardless of the fact that he’s a Jain, and I think it would have served the story better to elaborate more on the “aid” the SEC gave him than his family history. And based on the flow of the story, it looks like that part was edited right out.

  5. It’s a legitimate thing to put in the story, given how revered devout Jains are.

    C’mon Manish, The jains more than anything else are a business community. Nothing to do with the religion. I noticed a lot of jains (rich businessman) doing extremely pompous show of their wealth in social occasoins, which is contrary to what Mahavir Jain would have said or liked. When was the last time a journalist wrote about a Christian businessman … on the lines of …”Although Mr. X was raised christian who have a commandment ‘Thou shall not steal’ he still cheated people out of money”. On similar lines …. When was the last time a western Christian politician advocated turning the other cheek ???

  6. The jains more than anything else are a business community… When was the last time a journalist wrote about a Christian businessman…

    The right analogy would be an ultra-orthodox sect, not Christianity in general. The story author is drawing on the extreme ahimsa and renunciation tenets of Jainism here. Though your point is taken, most Jains aren’t likely to be sticklers.

  7. Um… dude… that’s not a photo of Naveen Jain. It’s a photo of Naveen Andrews, well-known TV star from “Lost.”