It’s one thing for Ron DeSantis and other politicians to talk tough about banks that want to cut investments in fossil fuels or go big in green technology. It’s another to assume this is something regular voters are passionate about, that they hate keeping their money in a Woke Bank (I doubt such a creature exists). But a group of investors including billionaire Peter Thiel underwrote GloriFi, an anti-woke bank that’s pro-fossil fuel, pro-gun ownership.
And run out of the boss’s house. Not well, either: “Within months, the investors’ money was nearly gone, and GloriFi was on the verge of bankruptcy. It missed launch dates, blaming faulty technology and failures by vendors, and laid off dozens of employees. It stumbled with products; for instance, a plan to make a credit card out of the same material used for shell casings failed when the company realized the material could interfere with security chips and potentially be too thick for payment terminals.”
To paraphrase IF Stone, this looks like a case of conservatives drinking the snake oil they’re peddling to the public and convincing themselves everyone on their team really is outraged. Or of our financial overlords simply not being as smart as they appear to be (see also: Theranos). Then again, even if Thiel invested $10 million in this thing, that’s close to pocket change for a billionaire. So why worry?
It’s either amusing to see how bumbling they are or — given the amount of money and the related power they’re playing with — alarming how bumbling they are.
#SFWApro.
Fraser Sherman's Blog 