In fact, one of the biggest names on the Alabama corporate scene--Harbert Management Corporation--has a top executive on the AM list. So does Liberty National. Hoar Construction, Royal Cup, Southern Company, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and Cadence Bank are among a long list of Alabama companies with employees who have paying AM accounts.
Research shows a similar number of high-level executives in Missouri have been AM customers. We will take a look at those in an upcoming post.
How is any work getting done these days in corporate America?
Alabama and Missouri are where I've lived over the past two years, so we have focused on those two states. In fact, we've focused primarily on the Birmingham metro area in Alabama and the Ozarks region surrounding Springfield in southwest Missouri.
Even with fairly limited research parameters, due to the massive size of the Ashley Madison files, it becomes quickly apparent that huge numbers of wealthy, powerful, connected, and seemingly smart individuals were stupid enough to fall for what easily should have been seen as a Web-based scam.
The Alabama AM customers we've found by name are overwhelmingly male. In fact, one researcher estimated that AM had 1,500 active female users, compared to about 20 million men. In other words, huge numbers of men were in hot pursuit of affairs with women who, by and large, did not exist. And many of the men who were stupid enough to fall for this con have high-paying jobs (in some cases, extremely high-paying jobs) at prominent companies and institutions.
Who are some of those big-time employers? Let's look first at a sampling from Alabama, and we will publish a similar list from Missouri soon.
It's important for readers to know that this is based on a very small sample size in both states. We know, for example, that Alabama has roughly 8,000 paid AM users--and that is the list we have searched so far. But the state has roughly 220,000 total AM users, so there is much, much more data to be explored.
Alabama companies or institutions that are home to Ashley Madison customers
* Harbert Management
* Sterne Agee
* Royal Cup
* BBVA Compass
* Hoar Construction
* Capstone Collegiate Communities
* ACIPCO
* Royal Automotive
 |
| Harbert Management Corporation is one of the many Alabama companies with at least one high-level executive on the Ashley Madison list. |
* Nowlin and Associates
* HealthSouth
* Southern Company
* Cadence Bank
* Blue Cross/Blue Shield
* Pangea Two
* Protective Life
* Raytheon
* Wells Fargo
* Daimler
* Regions Bank
* Western Steel
* Birmingham-Southern College
* Bhate Engineering
* Liberty National
* BioHorizons
* Bradley Arant law firm
* Wiggins Childs law firm
* Cabaniss Johnston Gardner law firm
* Lightfoot Franklin White law firm
* Ogletree Deakins law firm
* SEC Network
* LAH Commercial Real Estate
* Gentle Sexton Turner law firm
* ReMax
* U.S. Steel
* Bromberg's
* Cochran law firm
Harbert? Corporate names don't get any bigger than that in Alabama.
ReplyDeleteGood grief. So let me get this straight...you're posting a list of companies where high level executives made mistakes. Really? You've got police corruption galore and you're doing this?
ReplyDeleteIf you want a list of companies where executives have made personal mistakes, then open up the yellow pages. In fact, why don't you list everyone who has ever made a mistake in their life they regret. In fact...take a look in the mirror. I know when I do, I see a man that's made plenty.
Praying for you.
For the record, there probably aren't many blogs in the country that have covered police corruption as extensively as we have. And I doubt anyone has covered it in the personal and direct way we have. That, and other forms of corruption, will be ongoing subjects here. But so will the Ashley Madison story, including any ties it has to the law-enforcement world. We aren't limited to covering only certain types of stories here.
ReplyDeleteOne other point: Like you, I've made plenty of mistakes. That doesn't exclude me from examining the Ashley Madison story and showing that it reaches into some extremely high places in American corporations and institutions.
The above comment from me is a response to a reader comment that I thought I had published, but it seems to have disappeared. Perhaps I mistakenly deleted it when I meant to hit "publish." Anyway, I invite the reader to resend, and I will continue to see if I can find it. Don't know what happened, but I apologize for the mix-up.
ReplyDeleteI found the missing comment, and it now appears. I had mistakenly sent it to "spam" folder. Ironically, the reader raised the issue of mistakes, and I made one. Again, sorry for the confusion.
ReplyDeleteI've looked at this data. I think the overall list is garbage because you really could not use the service as a male unless you paid for it. And the emails were not verified so anyone could use any email address.
ReplyDeleteThe paid list is a different story. That is the damning document because someone who paid actually tried to meet other people on the site.
Do you intend to pursue the overall list or only the paid users? In my opinion only the paid users list is reliable data.
All of the reporting I've done on individuals so far--on Rob Campbell, Chuck Dean, and Artur Davis--is from the paid list. Today's post is based on information from the paid list. So far, I've only seen data from the paid lists for these two states--Alabama and Missouri. I'm in touch with knowledgeable tech people who are guiding our coverage of this. I will check with them before doing anything from the non-paid list. For now, our reporting is all from the paid list, and I don't know that we will dive into the non-paid territory. It depends on what I learn about the reliability of that data.
ReplyDeleteI have no doubts about the reliability of the paid data we've examined so far, and it seems that you don't either, @11:25.
No doubts. Paid data is the real deal.
ReplyDeleteI guess privacy is dead at LS. Shame.
ReplyDeleteNice! Just about every single one of those companies turned me down for a job when I really needed one. After I completed my law degree & had several years of experience, one high level manager at one of those companies called me a "light weight" who needed to go look for work in fast food. The culture at some of these companies is really perverse. He could have said something like you know, we can't create an opportunity for you at this time, but I have a friend at another company who could use an unpaid intern or would let you develop the experience we need. You might have to get a second job to supplement your income, but I'll try to help you. Maybe that son of a bitch or his boss or his boss' boss is on the list.
ReplyDeleteSince when has LS ever been a big advocate of privacy, anyway?
ReplyDeleteThis may not be exactly what they had in mind when they asked us to become a "change leader" & to be the leaders of change in Corporate America, but this is going to go down in history as one of the greatest executions on a change based business plan ever!
ReplyDeletePrivacy is a big, important subject, one I respect and one on which I've studied the law a fair amount. That doesn't make me an expert on it, but I will point out that both my wife, Carol, and I have a perspective on privacy that probably is unusual in this country.
ReplyDeleteI had an Alabama deputy enter our home, with no sign of a warrant or any statement indicating why he was there, douse me with mace and drag me to a squad car for a five-month stay in jail--on a totally civil matter, for which 200 years of First Amendment law says prior restraints and incarceration leading from them are not a lawful remedy. What does that say about privacy in U.S.?
Carol and I had Missouri deputies burst into our apartment for an eviction that lawfully could not happen on multiple grounds. We had weapons pointed right at us, and Carol's arm was shattered in the ensuing chaos. What does that say about privacy in the U.S.?
I would argue that LS has touched on privacy issues in a way that few blogs ever have or ever will. Having said that, the AM material now is in the public domain (whether any of us likes the way it got there or not), and I'm free to review and analyze the data--as many other news sites have done.
The data I've examined so far, in my view, reveals important information about the activities of individuals who hold high-paying, leadership positions in major companies and institutions. What kind of judgment do these people have? Many of them are in positions to make judgments about, and take actions against, the rest of us. What kind of judgments do they make in their own lives. I've been a journalist for more than 35 years, and in my view, this information is newsworthy.
Those who disagree are welcome to ignore our reporting on the subject. Those who agree, or maybe aren't sure what they think, are welcome to come along for what promises to be an interesting ride.
If you're going to cover the Ashley Madison story, I find this story much more responsible than any where specific individuals are named. The information is much more interesting in the aggregate and the analysis of over-arching trends.
ReplyDeleteMy commendations to you sir.
Thanks for your insights, Rob, and I think you make many important points. For example, many of the people I've found on the AM list, make all sorts of judgments every day about others. They might check your credit report or your criminal/civil record or even your health records. (Get involved in a lawsuit and see if some attorney doesn't try to get your medical records, even if that is not a subject of the case; it's an intimidation tactic.) Many of these people will decide whether you will get a mortgage or whether they will rent property to you. And if you get a mortgage, they might decide to foreclose on you, whether it's merited or not.
ReplyDeleteThese people might hold "private" positions, but much of what they do has "public" implications. Many of them work at companies and institutions that have helped turn the justice system on its head, serving the interests of an elite few while screwing regular folks over and over.
Do I feel bad about the public getting to peek behind the curtain, to see what some of these folks are really like? No, I do not. In fact, I consider my role in making that happen to be a public service.
I appreciate the kind words, @2:03, but you might soon want to take them back. My reporting will take a serious look at quite a number of individuals. We are starting that with the aggregate, broad view, but individuals will be named. Individuals already have been named.
ReplyDeleteFor those interested in some of the legal issues surrounding the Ashley Madison hack, a key case is Bartnicki v. Vopper:
ReplyDeletehttps://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2171346211086974391&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr
I want to read the DIRT on these people. It is educational and useful to me as a consumer. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see BCBSAL as an employee here. I would love to see one of our millionaires bite the dust.
ReplyDeleteThat really is funny. How true, how can corporate American keep up with work when they are so busy trying to have affairs.
ReplyDeleteif they spend half as much time trying to keep their marriages in tact as they do trying to have affairs, life might be better at home. I guess this is the conservative, church going crowd, when their neighbours aren't looking.
One of the things I see here is bad judgement. If executives of corporations are excerising this type of bad judgement, you wonder, how the companies they work for survive.
I agree, e.a.f., that the key issue here is bad judgment. I don't know what it's like to sit in a corporate boardroom and make decisions. But I'm guessing a big-shot executive has many ways to get away with his bad judgment on the job--tax writeoffs, layoffs, government bailouts, etc. I'm guessing the public never knows about many bad corporate decisions because they are covered up and cleaned up, out of view.
ReplyDeleteFormer state senate majority leader:
ReplyDelete883 ZEB LITTLE,$536,STHRNGENT47@YAHOO.COM, 409 1st Avenue SW, Cullman, 35055
Former chief of staff to Gov Don Siegelman:
643 PAUL M HAMRICK, $607, NANOPOD@GMAIL.COM, PO Box 947, Montgomery, 36101
Son of the chairman of the Alabama Democratic Conference:
493 JOE REED, $654.87, JOEMREED@WOWWAY.NET, 9132 castle pines circle, Montgomery, 36117
That's a lot of cash to flirt with non-existing women.
ReplyDelete