The final court decision has been issued in the case of Kevin Brittinghams lawsuit against Freedom Group and Remington over his sudden firing a couple years back, and its a way better read than I expected. We have estimated Eric Brittingham's net worth , money, salary, income, and assets. But revenue remains soft in a market still saturated by the assault-rifle-buying frenzy of 2013, and Remington, in a tacit acknowledgment of its critics, has abandoned the kind of combat-oriented marketing imagery that so excited its customers. These dimensions allow the 300 AAC Blackout to be used in existing magazines designed for M16 or AR-15 rifles. Kevin thought that he was canned, but Remington offered him an option. But dont think for a minute theyre strong defenders of classical markets. Echoing Reichert, Nardelli said that Steve saw this as a huge patriotic opportunity, in addition to a great investment. Nardelli was wrong. He had contributed to numerous Republican political campaigns. Guys like Steve Feinberg live in a different world than Dick Dyke, he told me. None of them wavered in the slightest, not even when I brought up the Newtown massacre, or the Pulse-nightclub shooting, or the San Bernardino attacks, or the shooting of the Dallas police officers, or the certainty of other massacres to come. View the profiles of people named Kevin Brittingham. The companys corporate culture is Darwinian. He wasn't really that interested in commercializing it. PLCAA granted gunmakers broad immunity from lawsuits from victims of gun violence. In 2006, he had hired George W. Bush Cabinet appointee John Snow as co-chairman shortly after the Treasury secretary resigned. MARLIN FIREARMS Concentrated into a smaller demographic were the serial gun purchasers, a hard core of about 3 percent of the U.S. population. Most of these fees could be collected only once the investment had been closed meaning that even before he entered a business, Feinberg was thinking about how to exit. Feinberg wanted over a billion dollars, but he couldnt find a taker at that price. . Very much not. During the flood of grief that followed, an outcry erupted directed at Cerberus, Remington, and Bushmaster. Theyll do what they have to do to survive, just like Garbage Motors did. Oh, slow quarter since this years economy crashed? Dang Go Kevin, I might use the word flounder if I am ever asked to sign something I do not agree with. As part of the Cerberus sale, the original Bushmaster factory would remain open for at least five years. Jones. When some buyer of your company says that their back-office IT systems can benefit you, thats a sure sign that theyre going to quash your culture. I live in New York Territories under the administration of Procunsul Cuomo the Younger. Remington and Freedom Group finally had their excuse to can Brittingham when a single antique silencer was delivered to AACs doorstep. Briefly, I worked for the company that most of the Freedom Group management came from and if Kevin had talked to anyone from that company he never would have entered into the agreement he did with them. Big promises were made, but without a real requirement to pay as they go all the various governments and corporations simply did not pay. So it seems as if there was a lot of confusion and scheming around this issue. Ill spare you the details (it gets pretty dry), but here are the judges own words on the compliance officer: [The compliance officer] was never intended to be a compliance person at best, he was unqualified to ensure appropriate compliance; at worst, he was sent to AAC to find a basis to terminate Brittingham. Theyre too busy grabbing ankle for and asking favors from political types with D as the first letter of their party affiliation. The opposite of rule of law is anarchy. Model 123. This kind of organizational nonsense will come out in the products eventually. Rather than selling out to the Freedomless Group he should have hired a couple people to straighten the mess out. In the bankruptcy auction of Remington Outdoor Company in September 2020, the company was sold to JJE Capital Holdings, LLC. a stiff corporation has no conscience.. Wow, lot of work went into this one. He treated his workers like family members. Youve now structured a deal where it is well within the buyers benefit to get rid of you and the founders of the company being bought out. The strategy is to try to be useful & learn all you can about how they can (probably) make the business work when you cannot. Can you name a bullshit free marketer who opposes the sanctity of private contracts?. Profits or not, other private-equity firms, having witnessed an unprecedented revolt from investors, wont touch it. Sounds like the best course of action for him would have been to hire a couple of adults to run the business office and leave him free to do his design work. This contract was procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce and Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division. There was no disguising its military heritage, but by stamping a storied brand onto this menacing instrument, Cerberus was able to expand Freedom Groups business in both the traditional gun-store market and the family-friendly sporting retailers. Freedom Group and Remington had conspired to find a way to fire Kevin in order to save $4 to $8 million that he was due as performance incentives and pay.. Remy, Freedom group, whoever has 18million reasons not to pay him and spend at least half that money on lawyers to try and keep from paying him. Forbes magazine estimates it at $1.2 billion; office gossip at Cerberus puts it closer to $3 billion. He then discarded this gun and prepared for a tactical assault, arming himself with two pistols, a shotgun, and her Bushmaster assault rifle, along with ten 30-round magazines. Theyre akin to blood diamonds. But if all people were basically good, why would we, increasingly, pass more and more elaborate laws? Just out of curiosity, what experience do you have with selling highly regulated products where every little thing has to be done by the books? Kevin Brittingham was quoted as saying he hoped FG jacked him around until the money went to his grandkids, because they are required to pay 9% interest on it. At that distance, he couldnt just aim his weapon at the target; he had to lob the bullet like an artillery shell. MPW (Multi-Purpose Weapon), a rifle chambered in .300 AAC Blackout, made with 16" and 12.5" barrels. This meant transferring all existing equipment to Remingtons possession, along with all of their silencers and R&D guns. While some enthusiasts collected guns, Feinberg collected gun companies. It is the same company. He is best known for being a member of the band Cinderella. Mr. Brittinghams mistake was doing business with jerks. The only thing he hard from Remington was that he had been fired for cause, which would void his employment agreement and leave him out $4 million. Also, thismove will get Bob on board and de-risk this business. Shooting a 180-pound deer is the same tech as shooting an 180-pound man, said Brittingham, and Freedom was staffed with a number of people whod done both. Although the PLCAA granted immunity from lawsuits of this type, lawmakers had left an exception: negligent entrustment. This term referred to the rights of victims to sue gun dealers who had sold weapons irresponsibly say, to a customer who was obviously drunk or homicidal. The next day he was fired, supposedly for still having personal firearms on the premises. Using a technique employed by Special Forces operators, he then taped these magazines together into bundles of three, allowing for immediate reload. I have researched our Plan B options with APA, old employment agreements, new employment agreements, term sheets with probation statements, etc and can give you the bottom line tomorrow . As such, their word is worthless. Really. I agree. This is what has happened all over the country with pensions. A trope of the left is that low taxes and government regulation = failed states. . The courts didnt buy the argument, and last month, the judge in the case dismissed the lawsuit. Mike Pences 2024 Strategy Totally Depends on Iowa Evangelicals. Its gone. They saw through the Ponzi scheme. One major legal case challenged the NFA, and would have been successful save for a technicality causing the plaintiff to drop/abandoned the action. Despite repeated requests, he was never given a reason for his suspension or the results of an external investigation into the issue. Kevin had standing orders that any Maxim silencer his employees found should immediately be purchased for his collection, but he also used them as models for designing new silencers by examining their construction. Reichert had earned the Bronze Star for valor that day; two months later, he had a hole ripped in his cheek by an IED. Prosecutors would grab them in possession of non stamped weapons and then build the rest of their caseor that was the theory anyway. Interesting to me, its good strategy to work the system (vs. do the work) if you arent particularly good at doing the work. Kevin Brittingham founded Advanced Armament Corp, which became one of the biggest silencer manufacturers in the world. Over time, Reichert became Feinbergs friend. Accounting for enforcement is particularly important when the system in which you operate is powerful, complex or arcane, so working the system can pay off better than doing the work. Silencerco I hope you guys are listening.. In 2012, his daughter Lindsey posted a picture of her fathers T-shirt to Instagram. 1. When Adam Lanza shot his mother, Nancy, in her sleep on the morning of December 14, 2012, he used one of her bolt-action rifles, a Savage Mark II. I cant help but see some fault from Brittingham as well. His goals this time aren't acquisition as the measure of success. The dual-band career is the reason why Eric Brittingham is one of the wealthiest guitarists with a net worth of $6 million. NEWINGTON, N.H. (February 17, 2014) SIG SAUER is proud to announce that Kevin Brittingham and Lindsay Bunch are joining its staff, adding decades of product design, R&D, and military experience. I grabbed him by his collar and let the snake continue on his way.. Mr. Bittingham is not blameless in this episode. were clearly treating this as an owned property, another plant in their portfolio, with Brittingham another employee. I also thought through various replacement options . This story reads like everybody hearing what they wanted to hear. Nearby Blackwater, he felt, had a much better setup. Named simply Q, they'll start out with just 10 employees, but it's quite the lineup. All rights reserved. Unions arent perfect, but as a member of a construction trade union all of my benefits are rolled into one hourly rate that the contractor pays. Reichert obliged, dragging his pupil into the swamps near the Camp LeJeune base. His point applied broadly: Freedom Groups business strategy was to use Americas Special Forces as an R&D department for selling guns at Walmart. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QDv4sYwjO0, Ill see that and raise you these: Since day one, Kevin had used his personal gun collection in the design and development of the companys silencers. And this is just one company, the company I work for is even worse at violating laws and regulations. It was rumored that, following the massacre, he asked his son to sell the company. Anyone who has been around small businesses knows that they are hornets nest of incompetence, greed and outright fraud. Remington, etc. Your continuing to work for a company that is no longer yours is a completely different matter than the buy-out price of the existing company at the point where ownership and control is transferred to the buyer. Youre dumb, because Im not talking about Remington and I indicated it was a tangent for a reason. I have been working on a few designs and would not even need $50,000 to get a working product. In 2004, alongside Goldman Sachs, Cerberus privatized 65,000 units of public housing in Berlin. Robert Silvers remained at the company as a leader of research and development. Depending on how his FFLs were structured, the company might have been considered two different entities from the ATFs perspective. Novelty sells in this business more than tactical improvements, he told me. Selling a gun that was an original Bushmaster in all but name, the new company grew to $65 million in sales in less than five years. . For several values of they, as we say in the nerd-pool. The original idea, of an IPO, was out of the question: No reputable investment bank would underwrite it, nor even take the M&A fees associated with a private deal. Facebook gives people the. Related: 'Real Housewives of Dallas': Did Bravo Fire Former Housewife, LeeAnne Locken? But for Feinberg, thats a small price to pay. Brilliant portrayal of the real world. The individual is not only best qualified to provide his own personal defense, he is the only one qualified to do so: and his right to do so is guaranteed by the Constitution. David Mamet. At trial many of these guns turned out to not be Kevins firearms at all, and the rest were common firearms that were not conclusively Kevins guns. The smaller the niche a small company operates in (in this case, silencers), the more reason to remain small and independent. I was going to name Barrack Obama, then I noticed the bullshit free marketer clause and realized he was not appropriate. They dont know what theyre talking about, and the only thing theyre interested in is making money for themselves. Kevin Brittingham is a rebel in an industry that is increasingly corporate in nature. Schauble and the rest of the Remington and Freedom Group board were not aware of any misconduct that would give them a reason to can Kevin. Several things jump out at me: 1. SIG SAUER welcomes Kevin Brittingham to lead its new SIG-SD Silencer business unit, as well as other special programs within its Military/Law Enforcement development activities. A free market is better than the centrally controlled and redistributive alternatives, but it doesnt have a benevolent hand like some sort of benign deity. But after a meeting with Jason Schauble (then working for Remington, recently fired from Tracking Point, and now working for SilencerCo), Kevin saw that Remington might be able to help them grow the business beyond what they could do on their own. [5], The company's Titan-QD Fast-Attach suppressor is used on the US Army's M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle and the Remington MSR (Modular Sniper Rifle). ADVANCED ARMAMENT 2023 Vox Media, LLC. The sale landed Juan and Robert on The Forbes 400 as a family entry with a combined net worth of about half a billion dollars. RELATED STORY The Fix by Q: Exclusive Look at One of the World's Most Innovative Rifles Kevin Brittingham, Radical CEO "I think the gun industry overall is very boring. Buyer beware may be the law of the capitalism jungle, but society also understands the need for social contracts that allow individuals and businesses to function with a reasonable expectation that what they pay for is what they get without expending all of their energy on investigation and asset protection. Or carry a 50 million dollar quota? But months later when the list made its way to Freedom Groups headquarters, they took it as gospel that the guns in the Kevin pile were all actually Kevins guns, did no further fact checking, and decided to fire him without notice. I wonder if Kevin Brittingham would be interested in investing in a line of flamethrowers. By the end of the year, Remington Outdoors annual sales had finally passed its billion-dollar target. As for Remington, the last time I had energy to look at its books it was bleeding like a stuck pig. Will others follow? For founders of small companies, get a lawyer. This demographic was key to Cerberuss success. Now add to this the fact that the company is manufacturing NFA items for two different FFLs and were talking about epic amounts of paperworkhundreds of NFA items being made each month, not including what was being done in R&D. When the five-year agreement to keep the original Bushmaster factory open expired in 2011, the plant was shut down almost immediately. Sales of the R-15 boomed. Not budding hunters, necessarily participation rates in the outdoor sports had been stagnating for years. The consumer market for silencers was growing, particularly in the competitive-target-shooting community. If nothing else, hire a bookkeeper to do nothing else but keep the NFA stuff straight. Through one subsidiary, it ran the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki. Centerfire rifle suppressors include the M4-2000 (used by numerous military units including the Navy SEALs), 762-SDN-6, SR series, and Cyclone (for .30 caliber precision rifles). REALLY? REMINGTON 1816, Theres a hard product version of Conways law: Any software system reflects the organization that created it. (There are variations on the exact quote. Lesson here is, if you own a company and have another, larger company come in an help, you dont own your company anymore. Muhammad hadnt purchased his Bushmaster legally; hed stolen it from a gun store. The move offered nearly $40 million in state tax incentives, but Freedom Group still struggled. Someone please correct me if Im wrong, but thats what I think is the answer to your question. That marketing was the focus of the lawsuit brought against Remington by the victims of Sandy Hook. She has also appeared on shows like 'Celebrity Page' and 'Below Deck Mediterranean'. On the stand, Remingtons own ATF expert testified that the practice was indeed illegal. Feinberg earned money by charging his investors management fees. Much of it was encouraged at the time by speeches, quite a bit by regulation & guidance, and some by legislation. It is important to point out that at the time this email was written, Remington and Freedom Group had no knowledge that Kevin had done anything wrong. The issue is that under the original employment agreement, Kevin needed to be issued a written warning and be given an opportunity to fix the problem (over a period of 30 days). This despite Kevin meeting and exceeding his stated performance goal (growing the company by over 100%, more than the amount required by the employment agreement). That is, if it hasnt already. Back in October, a pre SHOT Show photo shoot took place at AACs HQ. Manufacturing was moved to Ilion, and Bushmaster customers soon noticed a drop in product quality. If thats the only offer you can get, that may be a hint. Ive skipped over a lot of detail. Freedom Group marketed its firearms not just as guns but as shooting platforms: modular, lethal Lego sets whose component parts could be updated for years after the initial purchase. Culture follows process, and vice-versa. Stuff like this makes me not so sure. So, getting the NFA repealed looks simple on paper, but is in reality a direct challenge to a lot of established law, regulation, and cultural acceptance. My takeaway from this is theres a market for an independent consulting/auditing group that specializes in NFA compliance for small firearms businesses. Look, I grew up in rural America, he said. It would be like the IRS pulling a kingpin in for tax evasion and then pumping him based on his drug trafficking activities now a days. He was joined in this request by the California State Teachers Retirement System, a key Cerberus investor and one of the largest pension funds in the country, which threatened to pull its money from the firm if it didnt divest from its gun investments. On a separate floor is the private-equity group. Dont do that. (Personal reasons. Tier 1 Group was profitable, but its sales maxed out at around $15 million annually a fraction of a percent of Cerberuss total business. Remington eventually sent a single person to iron out the compliance issues, in the form of a former private investigator with a few days of ATF training and no background in compliance whatsoever. The gun cultures objection to conglomeration was reminiscent of objections Id once heard from conscious consumers when Unilever had purchased Ben & Jerrys. By focusing on the military market, and especially special ops, you can translate that to the commercial market, Brittingham said. Kevin wanted silencers to be mainstream, and getting Remington to start marketing silencers would be a major step forward. King Charles Evicts Harry and Meghan From House They Dont Live In. By 2009, both companies were in financial peril. Each part of the description could go in a corresponding column and be searchable. Despite these connections, Feinberg regarded himself as a regular guy. The only good news was that Kevin was untouchable unless he committed a felony, or broke company policy. Engineers should engineer, lawyers should lawyer, managers should manage and worker-bees should worker-bee. If I wanted to do anything with SBRs or cans, Id hire a consulting firm to help walk me through everything, from applying for the FFL and additional licensing, the ITAR crap and then and do compliance audits before the ATF does. Then he shot himself in the head. Friends say he had trained in college, at Princeton, with the ROTC, parading in military drills and shooting targets with a standard service rifle, and that he had even attended jump school. The 42-year-old multimillionaire started selling guns when he was in high school, opened an NFA shop selling silencers, and then incorporated Advanced Armament Corporation when he was 19. Jason wanted AAC to be treated like another plant, like Remington or Marlin or Bushmaster, with Remington HQ as the head of operations. 2024 Polls Show DeSantis Cant Easily Knock Out Trump. What youd have instead are forced monopolies and whatnot. 3. Further, the actions of Freedom group are on display for all of the AI to see. You post as if free market and equitable rule of law are opposites. Throughout the years, Cerberus has owned controlling stakes in dozens of businesses. Their scarcity has driven a level of cultural acceptance of their restriction. Becoming an employee is a trap, theyre just looking to screw you. The business deal would have worked fine, and theyd have all lived happily ever after. I think it says that Jason wanted AAC to be a separate P&L and the President of Remington wanted it to be another plant. It was its most profitable year. Great people, period! If it hadnt been for the unconstitutional gun control insanity, none of this would ever have come up. Sounds like a pretty toxic environment to work in. [3] In early 2015 AAC moved locations from Lawrenceville, Georgia to a new, larger, state of the art facility in Huntsville, Alabama. By 2009, it looked like a recruiting poster for Delta Force. This entire mess wouldve been non-existent had they not had to contend with ATF compliance.. On one floor are the hedge funds, trading in distressed debt and residential mortgages. In June of this year, the companys latest CEO, Jim Marcotuli, stated the obvious: Were not for sale.. The city threw out a Democratic mayor for the first time in decades.
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