By now it’s pretty clear that infamous Westgate Resorts CEO David Siegel is not a fan of President Obama. What's not so clear is why, given that his company has had its best performance ever under Obama, according to his own estimates.
Siegel’s found himself in the spotlight this week after sending an email to his employees, telling them that their jobs will be at risk if Obama is reelected. He’s since defended the email repeatedly, clarifying that it wasn't meant as a threat to his workers and that he wasn't trying to “intimidate anybody.”
But while Siegel has claimed that an Obama reelection would mean debilitating tax hikes, he’s also admitted amid his defense of the email that his business is currently thriving under Obama.
“The company is doing the best we’ve done in our history,” Siegel said in an interview with Businessweek. The comment echoes a similar one he made on CNBC’s “Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo," when told hosts “we’re very profitable.”
Siegel claims that small business owners across the country have reached out to express their support for his anti-Obama stance but others say he -- and his company -- would be best off if he kept his mouth shut.
"Telling or forcefully suggesting how yr employees should vote is the exact way to create problems among your workers and reduce productivity,” Maverick's owner and entrepreneur Mark Cuban said in a tweet Thursday.
But maybe Cuban doesn’t understand the apparently unique relationship Siegel has with his workforce.
“We’re like a family," he was quoted as saying in Businessweek.."They’re like my children, and I’m the Jewish mother telling them to eat their spinach and vote for Romney.”
CORRECTION: A previous caption for the photo associated with this post ironically identified Westgate Resorts CEO David Siegel as President Barack Obama. David Siegel is not Barack Obama, nor is he getting off a plane.
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