A silly detail in a creepy story

Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief

December 4, 2007

1 Min Read
Dead Man's Cable

11:50 AM -- Today's NYT story on the death of hedge fund manager Seth Tobias is a rippin' good read. That is, after you've read everything on Light Reading (and there will be a quiz on this later, class, so don't try to fake it).

Tobias was found dead in his own swimming pool in September, and folks still aren't sure how it happened.

One silly detail that I just had to share was Tobias's cable bill, which was mentioned in the story as an example of how the fund manager "made -- and apparently spent -- millions of dollars a year". So says the story:

His monthly cable bill from Comcast was $535.19.



That's about five times what anyone I've ever met pays for cable service. Indeed, most feel it's a badge of honor to give the cable company as few of your hard-earned dollars as possible.

Even assuming that one bill was for Tobias's two homes, and included a big Internet package, what services must one have on tap in order to run up a $500+ monthly bill?

Any thoughts?

— Phil Harvey, Barely Managing Editor, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Phil Harvey

Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

Phil Harvey has been a Light Reading writer and editor for more than 18 years combined. He began his second tour as the site's chief editor in April 2020.

His interest in speed and scale means he often covers optical networking and the foundational technologies powering the modern Internet.

Harvey covered networking, Internet infrastructure and dot-com mania in the late 90s for Silicon Valley magazines like UPSIDE and Red Herring before joining Light Reading (for the first time) in late 2000.

After moving to the Republic of Texas, Harvey spent eight years as a contributing tech writer for D CEO magazine, producing columns about tech advances in everything from supercomputing to cellphone recycling.

Harvey is an avid photographer and camera collector – if you accept that compulsive shopping and "collecting" are the same.

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