I like to play a game in my own mind. Pretending I'm still a reporter, I sketch out questions to ask names in the news. I'm talking about the real questions reporters would like to ask but too often don't for fear of losing access to a valued source or of confrontation and contentiousness.
Additionally, these public figures sometimes hide behind publicists, shunning the press. Or they let a flood of trivial tweets speak for them. Hmm, maybe a media training regimen could help.
If I could get some face time with these famous (or infamous) individuals, here's what I would ask.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the "genius" behind the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX:
- How is it even possible to take a company ostensibly valued at more than $30 billion and reduce it to nothing in such a short period of time, even if it was built on play Monopoly money?
- Last October you raised $420 million of real money from investors, then turned around and put $300 million of that in your own pocket. Is your moral compass so faulty that it didn't cause even the tiniest bit of guilt in your mind?
- You say you're trying to raise $8 billion to pay back some of your investors. Do you honestly believe that any sensible business person would give you a dime?
- In February you said, "America should provide oversight rather than sitting on the sideline." In early November you said, "F___ regulators. They make everything worse." Which is it?
- Most people would take their licks and disappear from public view if they were involved in such a laughably tragic Keystone Kops debacle. You seem like the type of person who is not inclined to do that. What's next for you?
Elizabeth Holmes, founder and former CEO of Theranos, recently sentenced to 11+ years in prison for defrauding investors:
- How could your conscience possibly have allowed you to run fake blood tests on patients for whom this could have been a matter of life and death?
- Some of the patients you defrauded say you've never expressed remorse. Why not?
- You say that you are full of regret and that you would have made some different decisions if you could have a do-over. But are you willing to admit that your actions were blatantly fraudulent and harmful?
- Do you now regret hiring a private detective to harass the whistleblower who first brought your shameful actions to light?
- Did you get a feeling of satisfaction when you were able to con high profile business leaders like Larry Ellison, Rupert Murdoch, and George Shultz?
Elon Musk, whose purchase of Twitter appears poised to flame out in spectacular fashion:
- In retrospect, would you agree it was a stupid move to fire a huge chunk of Twitter's staff since you later had to beg anyone with programming experience to return to the office?
- How much do you regret buying Twitter? Won't that decision go down as an enduring wound to your reputation?
- Has it ever occurred to you that you may be the wrong person to lead Twitter?
- Why did you unilaterally reinstate the accounts of Babylon Bee and Donald Trump when you promised to set up a panel to review such decisions?
- Looking ahead, is it safe to assume Twitter will become even more of the "cesspool" you claimed you wanted to avoid?
I invite you to play along. Which public figures would you want to question? What would you ask them?
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