Tragic Tesla Plane Crash Exploited by Insurance Company
It's hard to believe that the top executive of any company, even a relatively small business - an insurance business - can be offensive and disingenuous to the point where it shocks those of us who've been around, have thick skin, and thought we'd seen it all. But Bryan Costello (pictured), CEO of Costello & Sons Insurance, managed to pull it off by taking ambulance chasing to a corporate level.
As reported by Gawker: valleywag, the insurance company apparently sent the following content in an email ad to its database of Silicon Valley venture capitalists the day after the fatal plane crash that took the lives of three employees of Tesla Motors, a bay area electric car company:
CSI Costello & Sons InsuranceAs if the email wasn't morbidly opportunistic enough, the company's CEO had the intestinal fortitude to make this transparently disingenuous comment on the valleywag blog post:February, 2010
The fatal accident in Palo Alto, California, is a horror that no company wants to contemplate.
We extend our sincerest condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the airplane tragedy. These executives from Tesla Motors were pioneers and innovators; their contributions to the ever-changing technology community will be missed.
Prudent risk management dictates that multiple executives should never travel together, be it on a private plane or commercially. While no one likes to think about their death or how it and the deaths of others will affect a company, it's as important to address in business as it is in one's personal life. If you would like to discuss succession planning and key person insurance, please contact our specialist, Fred Waxler.
Fred Waxler
Life, Disability, LTC, Financial Services
[Contact information redacted]
This advertisement is for the purpose of information only.[Photo] Bryan Costello, Chief Executive Officer, [phone number redacted]
[Photo] Fred Waxler, Life Disability, LTC & Financial Services, [phone number redacted]
Our company sent out the above newsletter yesterday as we were deeply sadden [sic] about the tragic Tesla accident. Our primary reason for sending it out was not to ambulance chase or to do anything other than remind small businesses that perpetuation planning is a very difficult and often overlooked subject.Gee, did he really think anyone would buy that load of bull? Do you?For anyone that found our newsletter offensive, distasteful or unpleasant we sincerely apologize. Our goal is to do business with integrity, and we regret if sending this newsletter caused anyone to believe otherwise.
Sincerely,
Bryan Costello
Costello & Sons Insurance
Keep in mind, this email went out the day after the incident, before the victims had even been publicly identified. Personally, I'm appalled. Professionally, I think this behavior is well beyond the realm of ethical executive and corporate conduct, even for an insurance company. What do you think?
Image of Bryan Copeland from Copeland & Sons Insurance