Saatchi's Roberts Got Massages in Thailand While 401(k)s Sank and Clients Stiffed His Agency

(MoneyWatch)  Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts spent five days in a luxury Thai resort -- priced $615 a night and up -- receiving massages every day while his employees' 401(k)s were decimated and his own agency struggled to collect bills from one bankrupt client.

Roberts described his Thai vacation, at Chiva Som, on his blog, KR Connect. The Dec. 5, 2008, post reads:

A couple of weeks ago I spent five days in "The Haven of Life". Chiva Som is a two and a half hour drive from Bangkok and is one of the most beautiful places on earth. This is my sixth visit and I always stay in the same room every time, room 303 ?€" The Chamomile Suite. I love this room that overlooks the pool, palm trees, yoga pavilion, and ocean. It is a place where I recharge my batteries for the year-end and take time out to refresh the mind, body, and spirit. I dropped 8lbs. by following a 5-day Classic Cleansing diet ... I combined this with a daily massage (including my first ever facial) and a brilliant 5 Element Massage using hot and cold stones.

In the same post, he says:

The news everyday wasn't too hot, with American Express laying off 10% of their workforce, people's 401K funds in the U.S. being hammered, and job losses wherever you look. And it was happening in businesses as varied as Chrysler and Yahoo!. Once again, though, my readings helped me, "Conditions are always good, never bad; we need to know how to make good use of them. The man who waits for conditions to improve may have to wait for eternity".

Roberts had only days earlier railed against investment bankers for the misery they have caused his own employees in the credit crisis:

Many employees at Saatchi & Saatchi have seen their 401K retirement funds decimated by the greed, stupidity, and arrogance of these so-called 'Masters of the Universe'.

While Roberts was sunning himself and subsisting entirely on "vegetable juice, potassium broth, wheatgrass, and lots and lots of water," Saatchi's accounts receivable folks were wondering whether they would be able to extract payment from one of their bankrupt clients, biometric billing startup Pay By Touch. PBT owes Saatch $2.93 million, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. PBT engaged Saatchi to handle its ads last year, according to this press release and this blog item. Note in the Chron piece that Roberts is a member of PBT's board of directors. Roberts' blog had this to say about his staff and clients:

In the hectic business life we all lead nowadays, I find the person we most often neglect is ourselves. Instead we spend lots of time worrying about the business, our clients, and our people.

Other bloggers out there have noticed the conspicuous nature of Roberts' consumption behavior in this time of austerity. Says Auckland's David MacGregor:

It's a little weird that the economic world is in free-fall but Kevin Roberts is blogging about spending time in luxury.

If you would like to cash in the remainder of your 401(k) and join Roberts at Chiva Som, rooms start at $615 a night. Roberts had a five day stay, priced $3,075 at this time of year, for the cheapest room. Here's a description of Chiva Som's rooms:

Chiva-Som's seven suites all overlook the Gulf of Thailand. Choose from Herbal, Fragrance, or Rain Forest Suites. The Herbal and Fragrance Suites, each with separate living rooms, feature much larger outdoor terraces overlooking the sea. These suites offer a larger lounge area and larger outdoor terrace, ideal for couples travelling together.

Roberts was not slacking off completely while in Thailand. As he notes on his blog, he worked three hours a day:

I almost forgot to tell you about the work part (oh, yes, that too). I spent three hours a day in the library keeping things whirling. I did this with my iPod on, with total tranquility all around, and wearing only a t-shirt and shorts.