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Technology Stocks : Rambus (RMBS) - Eagle or Penguin -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TPT who wrote (80870)	2/3/2002 1:49:46 AM
From: Don Green	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93625

TPT Sorry to hear this news. There are many MSFT employees in my area, with similar problems. Regards Don Green

To: TPT who wrote (80870)	2/3/2002 8:30:47 AM
From: SBHX	Respond to of 93625

TPT, That is a sad story and I can certainly feel empathy for Fred Abramson. This is just a chat site for entertainment, if it seems that some here are gloating, then that is unfortunate. But there are two targets of us evil doers here. 1. The rambus management/lawyers and what they tried to do to the entire semicon industry with perhaps some help from chipzilla. 2. The cheerleaders who continue to try to mislead the very few moms & pops who can be influenced by chat sites. Also, in my case, I can remember how some were ridiculed at the height of the bus-mania. But the sad reality is that the most sophisticated pumpers probably sold near the height leaving the moms and pops holding the bag. Which is still ok, since stock chat sites are to just chat and don't really cause stocks to move. If you're one of a rare minority that make investing decisions based on discussion sites, talk to a investment councillor, or read a few books. I do hope that Fred did not die in in vain, perhaps others can learn to diversify their portfolios. The saddest part is this story is not unique, I even know a few in similar position even though they chose to struggle on, and survived. Fred Abramson is a well known in the flight community. Is this him, ranked #8 in the US? isd.net If so, at least rejoice that he got to realize his dream and fly his planes. Sad. Very sad. SbH

To: TPT who wrote (80870)	2/3/2002 2:39:39 PM
From: Pat Hughes	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93625

Spare us the Fred story.

To: TPT who wrote (80870)	2/3/2002 5:02:43 PM
From: Bilow	Respond to of 93625

Hi TPT; So, a Rambus genius didn't realize that his attempt to save on his taxes had a significant risk? I know plenty of people who have to deal with AMT. It's impossible to be a brilliant mathematician and not understand the consequences of what this guy did. The amazing thing is that this guy is supposed to be "extremely intelligent". Despite being so smart, he evidently didn't realize that the memory makers weren't going to make RDRAM cheap, that the chipset makers weren't going to support it, that the legal system was going to put Rambus back in their place, and that the tax system was really going to require that he pay taxes on his earnings. RMBS didn't collapse overnight. Abramson would have had months where he could have noticed that Rambus was declining, and could have liquidated his position to minimize his losses. Instead, greed kept him invested in RMBS. What's worse, the greed was mostly about avoiding paying US taxes. It's pretty clear how it is that Rambus was able to sucker in all the moms and pops. The Rambus story is so attractive that even gullible insiders got burned. Re: "And he couldn't bear the thought that he would be paying off his tax debt most likely for the rest of his life. Last week Fred decided to make his final payment - he paid with his life spending his last moments with his plane." Unless he left a suicide note, I doubt that he deliberately killed himself. Private pilots auger in every day. Planes are dangerous. And to deliberately destroy a plane in the process of taking your life would not be the way that someone would like to be remembered. In the final analysis, money is not a very important thing in this world. By the way, that was some nice aircraft that he had, but these are not exactly the safest models in the world, and he's wasn't flying it in a particularly safe and sane manner. He was a stunt flier: N-NUMBER INQUIRY FAA Data base, as of February 3, 2002 N12SU is Assigned Registered Owner: Abramson Fred G. San Mateo California Airworthiness: Engine Manufacturer: AMA/EXPR Engine Model: UNKNOWN ENG Classification: Experimental Category: Exhibition A/W Date: 11/21/1995 162.58.35.241 2000 Unlimited Category Pilot Rankings Less than 3 Contest List 7. Fred Abramson 6865 38 Delano, CA Unlimited San Mateo, CA Sukhoi SU26MN12SU 2540.6449 3609.9252 3074.9470 0 9225.5171 77.59% 11890 isd.net In his own words: ... Perhaps you've heard of episodes in which the pilot of an M14P-engined airplane sees flames shooting out of his cowl during flight. ... fred.abramson.com It's not like the guy was flying in a terribly safe manner: Doug, I believe that the SU29 crash you mentioned was the subject of a recent posting to the IAC mailing list. The NTSB report appears to indicate that the crash was caused by omission of a castellated nut and/or cotter pin from a bolt in a bell-crank in the elevator linkage. If this was the cause, I would consider this error to be a workmanship or quality-control type of problem, not something indicative of a design problem with the airplane. In almost 600 hours of flight in my SU26, my experience is that spin recoveries are reliably made from any spinning mode, and I have no indication of any CG problems. Fred Abramson acro.harvard.edu In other words, if you don't have a suicide note, I'd say that what you have here is just another stunt flying private aviation moron accident. But I guess it makes a great "bloody shirt" to wave around. -- Carl

To: TPT who wrote (80870)	2/4/2002 1:27:12 AM
From: Skeeter Bug	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 93625

tpt, don't deceive yourself. greed was at the root of this gentleman's problems. he received compensation in stock and could've sold for a HUGE windfall - you know, the ones that allow you to retire and fly planes. but, he didn't. why? did the mysterious amt monster put a gun to his head? no way. he CHOSE to GAMBLE his FUTURE in order to GET MORE (rather than be THANKFUL for what he HAD) - a gamble he couldn't AFFORD to LOSE. one can blame the amt all they want, but they are re-arranging chairs on the GREED TITANIC. GREED is the VILLIAN and EVERYONE needs to learn to be... 1. more THANKFUL for what they have. 2. more aware of the RISKS they take in life - ESPECIALLY HUGE RISK LIKE HOLDING HUGE DOLLARS WORTH OF STOCK RECEIVED AS COMPENSATION AND TAXED. 3. don't let a bad decision RUN so that it DESTROYS your financial future. 4. working for a living isn't bad. many people can't stand to work in tech, but they do what they need to do as responsible people. i surely hope that there is some evidence that this man committed suicide. if not, then the reformamt group is swimming BENEATH pond scum to use this TRAGEDY to bolster their own continued GREEDY SELF INTEREST.

To: TPT who wrote (80870)	2/4/2002 11:56:46 AM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 93625

TPT, Let me join the chorus. What Mr. Abramson did with his life was his own choice. It appears that he had every opportunity in the world to learn and understand the consequences of his action. He made a foolish choice in his handling of the stock options. This is something that happened to dozens of MSFT employees, based on terrible advice from a CSFB broker. None of the MSFT employees apparently thought that getting a professional opinion from an unbiased tax law professional was necessary. They believed the Wall Street promoter and they lost. They can not be said to be victims, they were willing to take the risk on holding the options because they were GREEDY. Are we seeing a pattern here? The problem does not lie with the AMT, which has been designed to prevent tax loophole abusers from getting away with shirking all of their community obligations for the sake of selfishness and greed. It is a good tax concept and I am vastly disappointed at efforts by Republicans from Paul O'Neil to Tom DeLay to be attempting to disguise the repeal of the corporate AMT as a stimulus package. This is terrible public policy. Instead of reforming the AMT, it would be far better for this nation for those who are so fortunate to be able to garner stock options to accept their responsibilities as members of a larger community. -Ray