"What a coincidence. I've never been the type to kiss up to anyone. Since your family is so well-connected, figure out your own ride home."
I hung up.
Maureen must have been seething, because a string of messages came through almost instantly:
"You're a factory floor grunt and you have the nerve to talk back to me?"
"Just wait."
"I'm not just going to have my cousin fire you. I'm going to have you blacklisted from the entire industry!"
I stared at the messages and was genuinely speechless.
I ran over a dozen companies. My net worth cleared ten billion dollars. And here I was, being threatened with career destruction by an intern.
If word of this ever got out, my friends in the business world would laugh at me for a solid year.
But Maureen's arrogance wasn't what actually concerned me.
It was her cousin.
A single HR director shouldn't have had that kind of reach. Which meant the rot inside the company had already spread to the upper ranks.
With that thought, I sent a message to Vice President Gallagher:
"Send out a notice. Tomorrow morning at nine, I'm holding a company-wide meeting. All employees must attend. No exceptions, no leave requests."