Off-Balance Sheet: Morgan, Rockefeller, Pratt...Yayo?

Relax, it's only money. Here in the 'Ville we like to keep things smart, but we also love to laugh. All work and no play...you know how it goes. With that in mind we give you The "Off-Balance Sheet," a place where Minyans can experience humorous takes on the world of finance, personal stories from our Professors and Minyans and all the other stuff that makes life worth living. So take a break from the flickering ticks and dive in.

Rapper Tony Yayo, a member of 50 Cent’s G-Unit, was recently arraigned on charges of assault and endangering the welfare of a child for attacking the 14 year-old son of Jimmy “Henchmen” (sic) Rosemond, chief executive of Czar Entertainment, which is located across the street from rival company Violator Records, owned by 50 Cent.


Marvin “Tony Yayo” Bernard                                              Jimmy “Henchmen” Rosemond

The boy, known as “L’il Henchmen,” was beaten by the 29 year-old Yayo for wearing a Czar Entertainment T-shirt. Yayo, whose given name is Marvin Bernard, reportedly yelled “F--k Czar Entertainment,” before hitting L’il Henchmen about the face and slamming him up against a wall. Two other G-Unit members were reportedly brandishing guns during the fracas.

While it may seem like an unorthodox business practice, roughing up children of executives who work for competing firms is more commonplace than you may think and actually owes its place in the dog-eat-dog business world to a long and storied tradition.

• In 1869, J.P. Morgan wrested control of the Albany & Susquehanna Railroad from Jay Gould. Soon after, Gould ran into Morgan’s daughter, Juliet, in New York City, and proceeded to yell, “F--k J. Pierpont Morgan & Company,” while working her over with a brutal combination of body blows and uppercuts.
  
  
  Jay Gould                                                                                                        J.P. Morgan
  
  
• In 1919, industrialist Andrew Carnegie spotted Henry Clay Frick II, son of Henry Clay Frick, who had left Carnegie Steel to establish St. Clair Steel. Incensed by Frick’s St. Clair Steel tie clasp, Carnegie sucker-punched him while yelling, “F--k St. Clair Steel,” then kicked him repeatedly in the ribs, causing a concussion and massive internal bleeding.
  
  
  Andrew Carnegie                                                            Henry Clay Frick
  
  
• In the latter part of the 19th century, John D. Rockefeller’s Cleveland-based Standard Oil outraged Charles Pratt of Charles Pratt & Company, a major New York refiner by hatching a scheme to obtain favorable net rates from several railroads through a secret system of rebates. When Pratt caught sight of Rockefeller’s son, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., wearing a Standard Oil lapel pin, he flew into a rage, yelled, “F--k Standard Oil,” before shattering his left eyesocket and cheekbone with a length of metal tubing.
  
  
  Charles Pratt                                                                    John D. Rockefeller

The business world will always be a jungle, with predators going after prey, and the strong being the ones to survive. What happened with Tony Yayo and L’il Henchmen was only the latest example of the win-at-all-costs struggle to succeed.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go beat up the editor of BusinessWeek’s son.