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1. The Paycheck Protection Program was supposed to support struggling SMALL BUSINESSES

But a Popular Information investigation, based on hundreds of recent SEC filings, found 32 companies that pay their CEOs $1 MILLION OR MORE that scooped up PPP funds

popular.info/p/32-millionai…
2. @veritoneinc paid its CEO, @ChadSteelberg, $18.7 MILLION in 2018. His brother, @steelberg_oc, was paid $13.9 million.

As of 12/31, the company had $44 million in cash reserves.

Last week, Vertione received $6.5 million in forgivable PPP loans

popular.info/p/32-millionai…
3. In a press release, Chad Steelberg said that the $6.5 million in taxpayer money meant that Veritone can "continue operations without salary reductions"

"[W]e are grateful the CARES Act established a safety net to help companies like Veritone"

popular.info/p/32-millionai…
4. .@PolarityTE paid its CEO $13,714,337 in 2018. Its CFO was paid $13,862,967 and its COO received $4,525,587.

As of March 31, the company had $39.5 million cash on hand.

On April 12, PolarityTE received a PPP loan for $3.6 million.

popular.info/p/32-millionai…
5. On April 16, four days after receiving $3.6 million in taxpayer money, @PolarityTE awarded $290,000 in cash bonuses to two top executives.

popular.info/p/32-millionai…
6. These companies are behaving this way because they are betting no one will pay attention.

The information is buried in hundreds of obscure SEC filings.

My newsletter, Popular Information, is about creating more ACCOUNTABILITY

Sign up --> popular.info/subscribe
7. In all, I identified 32 companies that paid their CEO $1 million or more in total compensation and received a PPP loan.

Here's the list:

popular.info/p/32-millionai…
8. Congress is set to approve hundreds of billions in additional money for this program.

But as far as I know there are no efforts to make sure that, this time, the money goes to companies that actually need it.

popular.info/p/32-millionai…
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More from @JuddLegum see all

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Judd Legum
@JuddLegum
1. On February 28, just 71 days ago, Donald Trump held a rally in Charleston, South Carolina

Since then there have been 1,323,068 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S.

78,639 Americans have died.

Let's review what Trump said on February 28.

Because he'd like you to forget.
2. "Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus, you know that right? Coronavirus, they’re politicizing it. We did one of the great jobs. You say, 'How’s President Trump doing?' They go, 'Oh, not good, not good.' They have no clue. They don’t have any clue."
3. Trump's point was that he was doing an amazing job dealing with the coronavirus and the Democrats, who were arguing Trump should be doing more, were "politicizing" the issue because they weren't recognizing how amazing he was doing.
Read 13 tweets
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Judd Legum
@JuddLegum
1. Many states are giving businesses the CHOICE to reopen but employees are being COERCED to show up.

They can either come back to work or lose all of their income, including unemployment

popular.info/p/return-to-wo…
2. Things are particularly bad in Ohio, which has set up a website for employers to report employees who won't come back so the state can cut off their unemployment benefits

There are no specified exemptions for the elderly or immunocompromised

popular.info/p/return-to-wo…
3. Keep in mind, all of this is happening BEFORE SCHOOLS are open.

Ohio and Kansas and other states do not provide exemptions for parents who don't have childcare options.

They are taking away state and federal unemployment benefits from families

popular.info/p/return-to-wo…
Read 3 tweets
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Judd Legum
@JuddLegum
1. The whistleblower report filed by Dr. Rick Bright is an explosive expose of dysfunction and corruption at an HHS agency tasked with "coordinating production, acquisition, and delivery of medical countermeasures during a pandemic response"

popular.info/p/the-ugly-tru…
2. In 2017, Bright describes being pressured to re-up a contract w/Aeolus Pharmaceuticals. A board member warned him the CEO was "friends with Jared" and would trash his reputation in the press. Bright's boss echoed the company's talking points popular.info/p/the-ugly-tru…
3. In 2018, Bright's boss diverted money from his budget to spend $40 million on an inferior antiviral drug. Experts across government advised against buying the drug.

The company was represented by a politically-connected consultant.

popular.info/p/the-ugly-tru…
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