Gerald Ratner speaking at the 1991 Institute of Directors Annual Convention

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Institute of Directors (IoD)

Institute of Directors (IoD)

11 жыл бұрын

Gerald Ratner, Founder of Gerald Online and former Chairman and Chief Executive of the Ratner Group delivers his now infamous speech to the Institute of Directors 1991 Annual Convention at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
www.iod.com/

Пікірлер: 103
@SlideRulePirate
@SlideRulePirate 10 жыл бұрын
He does his little bit of stand-up. He trots out his prepared material. His audience laughs and his audience applauds. He is not the only mug in the room.
@jebby16
@jebby16 7 жыл бұрын
He was high on the admiration, laughter, and applause and obviously let his guard down. Nice going, dude.
@largesatsuma
@largesatsuma 11 жыл бұрын
What a great speech. A chain of shops gets destroyed in about 10 seconds.
@martinda7446
@martinda7446 3 жыл бұрын
This shows one thing only, the power of the media...The next day headlines, 'Ratners says he sells people CRAP'. He didn't deserve to lose 500 million overnight because of this esp. if you listen carefully to his speech, without the tabloids nobody would have heard anything about it. Funny enough, today with the internet, I think it would have worked in his favour because everyone would have watched his speech and I think most would have realised it was blown out of proportion.
@Gamedraco
@Gamedraco 3 жыл бұрын
He probably would have lost the 500 million as he was saying those words today when social media is so instantaneous.
@martinda7446
@martinda7446 3 жыл бұрын
@@Gamedraco Maybe, but the difference I think is everyone could judge the whole and not that interpreted just by The Sun.
@martinda7446
@martinda7446 3 жыл бұрын
@@Gamedraco I think I badly tried saying it was trial by newspaper, without any chance of justice when the tabloids got hold of a story in those days.
@Gamedraco
@Gamedraco 3 жыл бұрын
@@martinda7446 When you are head of a company, you should not say anything negative about your company casually like Ratner did here. He just could not stop saying negative stuff about his own company for 4 minutes.
@martinda7446
@martinda7446 3 жыл бұрын
@@Gamedraco I agree, but it was a hell of a price to pay...50 million a minute.
@curlyfordoge4366
@curlyfordoge4366 7 жыл бұрын
4:12 At this moment, if one listens very, very closely, they can hear - in the distant horizon - the pained death-screech of a company.
@tetragon2137
@tetragon2137 7 жыл бұрын
And this is why you should never deride your own product in public.
@mikethebeginner
@mikethebeginner 2 жыл бұрын
3:41 This comment "went viral" as we say now, cost his business 500 million pounds in stock value within days of this speech, and eventually cost him his job. My father "did a Ratner." He was a Director of NASA under Jerry Ford and was allowed to stay on in the Carter Administration. He was one of the highest level appointees allowed to stay. At a speech in Florida, he joked that he would continue in his job unless he "succumbed to peanut poisoning" and some other similar comments. Just as with Ratner above, he thought he was only making some harmless jokes to connect with the audience. The Carter people at the time were sensitive to jabs about Jimmy having been a peanut farmer, and when he heard what my Dad had said, Carter's top advisor Hamilton Jordan hit the roof. My father was booted out of NASA within days. Not because of peanut poisoning, but because of his own big mouth. And so it goes.
@SerMattzio
@SerMattzio 5 жыл бұрын
Nothing wrong with honesty in business, the problem was the derisive nature of the joke wasn't just aimed at the product line, but the consumer too. I actually thought most of his speech (and business plan) was excellent. But you have to remember, no matter how rich you get, it's down to the good graces of the people buying your products. Mocking them is mocking the very thing that funds your existence.
@theartofpiano6405
@theartofpiano6405 2 жыл бұрын
Exactly. This very same speech could have been delivered successfully, if delivered from the frame of being the ADVOCATE of the consumer, championing the common man's need/desire to find things which feel like finery at a great price, and that feeling shouldn't be reserved for the "fat cats." He instead kept himself on the side of the fat cats, and it ended up looking like throwing rocks at the consumer.
@webbsurfer
@webbsurfer 7 жыл бұрын
Wouldn't it be totally satisfying to hear such candid talk from the leading retailers of today? And even more satisfying to then watch as their empires of crap crumble to dust?
@saritafercho
@saritafercho 3 жыл бұрын
The prawn sandwich line is a classic lol
@Gamedraco
@Gamedraco 3 жыл бұрын
And infamous as it was published to worldwide infamy that caused his company to lose half its value overnight.
@saritafercho
@saritafercho 3 жыл бұрын
@@Gamedraco I worked for H Samuel one Christmas, some of the gold jewellery literally folded in on itself after a few days, there was so little actual material in it!
@HenryMcGuinnessGuitar
@HenryMcGuinnessGuitar 8 жыл бұрын
It's all pretty candid - as if he's thinking "I've got to get a laugh out of them, no matter what it takes..."
@GraysonJStedmanjr
@GraysonJStedmanjr 7 жыл бұрын
While he did indeed shoot himself in the foot and blow up his business in the process, most of the rest of what he said in his speech was pretty good info. Would've been considered a great speech if it wasn't for those two gaffes.
@lunakid12
@lunakid12 3 жыл бұрын
Also there's the element of (bad) luck. Sometimes the public just happens to be in a bit more receptive mood, the bullet gets dodged, and a refreshingly frivolous speech like that ends up being considered "historic".
@anonUK
@anonUK 7 жыл бұрын
Everyone knows you get what you pay for- but this crossed the line into outright mockery of the "ordinaries".
@kala-adaidakariopusunju6809
@kala-adaidakariopusunju6809 5 жыл бұрын
Exactly
@davidwhyberd7612
@davidwhyberd7612 4 жыл бұрын
@@kala-adaidakariopusunju6809 Unfortunately, it showed that he sold tacky goods in garish windows. At the end of the speech, he said that he offered customers value for money. If he had stuck to that he would have been fine. At the beginning of the speech he rubbished some of his products prior to "the jokes" He thought that it was humorous and it backfired badly. One of his board members suggested the jokes as there were none in his spéech, but his wife advised against it. He should have listened to her.
@StraberrYKiler6789
@StraberrYKiler6789 9 жыл бұрын
Imagine if Steve jobs told the truth in front of a massive crowd waiting for some i-crap People always complain that companies and politicians bullshit us, this shows how they are rewarded for that. the guy is and stayed rich and having a comfortable life, he doesn't have to lie
@DroneFragger
@DroneFragger 9 жыл бұрын
It's great to show contempt for your public. What im saying is that this guy could run for prime minister in 5 years and probably win.
@johnbyrd7400
@johnbyrd7400 4 ай бұрын
I was today years old when I heard of this guy. He really did hammer his clientele. I think his biggest problem was the whole not being good at public speaking.
@paulframe85
@paulframe85 4 ай бұрын
Brave to upload this
@erniekelvin
@erniekelvin 7 жыл бұрын
Spoiler Alert. When he referred to fashion sense for next year, there wasn't a next year!
@Midlandsreia
@Midlandsreia 2 жыл бұрын
He's the Mr. Bean of jewelry.
@jd4278
@jd4278 3 жыл бұрын
The speech was actually pretty good after the famous line
@lunakid12
@lunakid12 3 жыл бұрын
The shock that nobody laughed after 19:22 ("The problem was, when Christmas came ... we discovered that they don't celebrate Christmas in Holland."), and how perplexed he became realizing it, is kinda like the moment the penny dropped: "Damn... Is this really the kind of audience I thought is was?..."
@nickvledder
@nickvledder 3 ай бұрын
An example of not looking, before you leap. 😁
@bobcharlie7982
@bobcharlie7982 3 жыл бұрын
Atleast he was honest
@flavio___lira
@flavio___lira 5 жыл бұрын
Here because of The Hustle
@Thanks_for_posting.
@Thanks_for_posting. 2 жыл бұрын
Incredible story Gerald was a legend audiobook worth listing to
@akashbhalotia317
@akashbhalotia317 7 жыл бұрын
This guy should write a book- "How to screw up a million dollar business in one day"
@diegoantonio7625
@diegoantonio7625 7 жыл бұрын
In fact he wrote a book is called, "The rise and FALL and Rise again" By Gerald Ratner
@martinda7446
@martinda7446 3 жыл бұрын
They lost 500 million overnight - Adjusted to today's value, well over a billion for making a bad joke. The press truly shafted him though. Check out how they handled the news...
@TheSealOfTheRose
@TheSealOfTheRose 9 жыл бұрын
Legend.
@ImagixStudionewengland
@ImagixStudionewengland 2 жыл бұрын
when you have so much money you lose your sense of reality and think your invincible
@ShamyTV5k
@ShamyTV5k 8 жыл бұрын
this is so great, :)
@gusbus643
@gusbus643 8 жыл бұрын
Love his satire
@RRM13
@RRM13 4 ай бұрын
The problem was that he couldn't forecast the cration of the internet and KZfaq. What was supposed to be a private speech, with a limited audience, is now public, open to millions.
@daile4513
@daile4513 6 жыл бұрын
4:10 - a long pause when you knew you might already screw up and if you should continue, but forget that, I love the audience reaction, lemme just continue...
@Gamedraco
@Gamedraco 3 жыл бұрын
As in continue to say bad and dumb things about my company non-stop for another full 3 minutes after that.
@BikiniDeathSquad
@BikiniDeathSquad 10 жыл бұрын
I appreciate his honesty, but I'm not Ratner stockholder.
@snapsnappist4529
@snapsnappist4529 Ай бұрын
There is a phrase supposedly used by market traders in the West Midlands: never make a mug of your punter.
@Perasis
@Perasis 4 ай бұрын
Great speech, sad ending.
@petergardiner58
@petergardiner58 6 жыл бұрын
He was only thinking of entertaining the conference - and forgot about the wider audience. Apparently he said current Ryanair crisis is not Michael O'Leary's"Ratner Moment"So that's the end for Ryanair
@Gamedraco
@Gamedraco 3 жыл бұрын
3:00 to 7:10 is where he royally blew it up and did his whole business empire in: "Come to think of it it has very little to do with quality." "Total Crap, and No Point Beating it Around the Bush." "Never will win awards for design." "Garish," "Not of the best taste and I admit that." "Earrings less than M&S Shrimp Sandwich and the sandwich would last longer." and "Very disappointed." All of these alone are bad enough, but he made every single one of this gaff remarks within those four minutes. No wonder "Doing a Ratner" became the byword for CEOs or of those similar position of large companies saying bad and/or dumb things about their own company. I was just plain incredulous listening to those 4 minutes and 10 seconds
@haroldchapman7238
@haroldchapman7238 3 ай бұрын
18:28 This Icarus was flying high with 34% of the UK market, and was aiming for 50% in the following years - Then he gave this speech ...
@manaboutadog6387
@manaboutadog6387 3 жыл бұрын
Did he know this was being recorded I’m guessing as the camera was probably the size of a wardrobe but what was he thinking maybe a private function he’d of got away with it. I don’t struggle but I was offended listening to some of this ‘material’. Glad to see he’s back on his feet now and just made his first mill since all this. Learning and growing never stops and if it does you’re not living
@folx2733
@folx2733 2 жыл бұрын
It was literally televised and he was very aware of it. It was supposed to be an innocent joke another guy told him to go for
@alaplaya5
@alaplaya5 4 жыл бұрын
At least he was honest...
@poetryreincarnations
@poetryreincarnations 10 жыл бұрын
Thankyou for putting this up. Fascinating a very clever man falls foul of The Icarus Syndrome. He had the knowledge right enough,he just should not have shared it so freely. I myself have never understood the desire for glittery things I would rather have a bar of chocolate than a bar of gold. The one time I did find myself buying a ring for a girl,when the girl did the bunk the jeweller wouldn't buy it back because it was worthless. I will stay with electronics gadget they actually do something
@nickvledder
@nickvledder 3 ай бұрын
The guy is a genius econometrist!
@rays7805
@rays7805 4 ай бұрын
"I want to be myself, but as performed by Eric Idle."
@martinda7446
@martinda7446 3 жыл бұрын
His wife told him not to say those 'jokes'.
@PurePuritan
@PurePuritan 10 ай бұрын
Wisdom is personified as female in the bible for a reason
@theartofpiano6405
@theartofpiano6405 2 жыл бұрын
What's interesting is that this very same speech could have been delivered successfully, if delivered from the frame of being the ADVOCATE of the consumer. He needed only to champion the common man's need/desire to own things which feel like finery at a great price, and that experience shouldn't be reserved for the "fat cats." He instead delivered the punchlines from the perspective OF the fat cats, and it ended up looking like throwing rocks at the consumer. Oops.
@dazauto1400
@dazauto1400 4 ай бұрын
He reminds me of Harold Shand in The Long Good Friday before it all went pear shaped.
@shakebraza196
@shakebraza196 3 ай бұрын
Moral: never tell your strategies clearly.
@seanahmed9079
@seanahmed9079 2 жыл бұрын
😂😂😂😂😂
@upscalesale4292
@upscalesale4292 2 жыл бұрын
J am sure people can see what he did. He made more money in that ten minutes than in the thirty years before it.
@gew12
@gew12 3 жыл бұрын
Even great public speakers have bad days
@TheHal90000
@TheHal90000 2 ай бұрын
Political equivalent was Hungarian prime minister Gyurcsany's Osszod Speech. Also hilarious.
@jjj5647
@jjj5647 8 жыл бұрын
His father spent his life time building the business and his thicko arrogant son destroyed the business in 6 seconds
@mham83
@mham83 8 жыл бұрын
I'd say he transformed the business greatly!? Arrogant, yes.. but thick he certainly isn't.
@jjj5647
@jjj5647 8 жыл бұрын
Thick .... no ... that was really smart of him right!
@mham83
@mham83 8 жыл бұрын
+paul Bailey and I suppose turning 130 stores into 2500 throughout UK & US was a bad move?
@jjj5647
@jjj5647 8 жыл бұрын
was this before or after his magnificent speech?
@radiofreeplatypus7908
@radiofreeplatypus7908 8 жыл бұрын
No, his bad move was the twin remarks in this speech, which went viral in the worldwide business AND general press for months afterward--costing his firm about 500 million Pounds Sterling in value as well as nearly 300 stores which were closed between January 1992 and May 1994 as the group went through a financial restructuring. He's currently enshrined forever in business history as a case study of what NOT to do when making a speech.
@extrabladeworks_
@extrabladeworks_ 4 ай бұрын
here from atrioc
@wickedmental
@wickedmental 11 жыл бұрын
Skip to 3 minutes to see the gaffs... lol
@brycejensen6527
@brycejensen6527 2 жыл бұрын
We put the Rat in Ratners. Real life Michael Scott?
@RobertFArd
@RobertFArd 2 жыл бұрын
OMG gd what a genius you are. This is the same thing Coke and teasla motor is doing right this moment. For all you morons out there its a tactic to buy all your shares back at a reduced price so that you dont have to deal with stockholders. Ya its a char burner move but the pay off is so large. What people failed to see is his family owns most of the shares anyways. What fouls he made you all out to be. This man deserves a standing ovation for this performance.
@moaningpheromones
@moaningpheromones 2 жыл бұрын
If that's true well done you and yes he would be a real trickster.
@adejames1960
@adejames1960 4 жыл бұрын
.. effectively slagging off his own customers..nice. knob.
@julianscales1807
@julianscales1807 2 жыл бұрын
hmm
@juno6602
@juno6602 3 ай бұрын
It seems to me that the man was basically crucified for telling the truth. Most people aren't fools; they know that 99p jewelry is going to involve cutting some drastic corners. But they bought it anyways. They bought it because it looked good enough and because it was affordable. As long as people care to present themselves as wealthier than they actually are, there's going to be a market for "dollar store" imitation-ish jewelry. And if people bought the stuff and felt cheated afterwards, they only have their lack of common sense to blame.
@smal1014
@smal1014 3 жыл бұрын
He's an absolute legend who got lost in his own success which was built on borrowed money 💰 100s of millions....a strong man for coming back up. Interesting book of his which I'm reading 📚 🤔
@KentReynolds
@KentReynolds 3 жыл бұрын
He was trying to be funny but it went too far. He was essentially ridiculing his own customer base and trying to say to the audience how clever he was.
@papatango2453
@papatango2453 2 жыл бұрын
He now speaks for Boris and the wokes....
@noserly
@noserly 4 ай бұрын
Ratner. What sort of name is that? French maybe? No…not French. Does the man who sells garbage have a Dutch name maybe? Hmmm, no, don’t think it’s Dutch. I guess it will just remain a mystery to me.
@stephenfrost6801
@stephenfrost6801 4 ай бұрын
Yes, a total mystery. I'm puzzled. I wish someone would solve it.
@RRM13
@RRM13 4 ай бұрын
You are leftist antisemitic woke
@user-br1cz7rg6k
@user-br1cz7rg6k 3 ай бұрын
Mr.💩
@anthonybarrett7456
@anthonybarrett7456 5 жыл бұрын
TOTAL DECADENCE , THIS IS WHAT THESE FOLKS ARE LIKE , NO MORALITY , HE MOST PROBALY WENT AWAY & LIVED HIS RICH LIFE , AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED ? ALL THE FOLKS WHO LOST THERE JOBS ??????? 2,500 SHOPS . THIS IS WHAT THEY NEVER EVER EVER THINK ABOUT ? NICE FOLKS , EHHHHHHH . PEACE AND GOD ALMIGHTY BLESS .
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