Dead Man's Cable

The Philter Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading 12/4/2007

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