Last fall, I received a very odd voicemail from the Beanie Babies billionaire himself, H. Ty Warner.
Warner wasn’t happy with negative press he’d received for allegedly screwing over hundreds of his employees at the Four Seasons Biltmore Resort by furloughing them ― instead of paying them unemployment ― during the coronavirus shutdown.
The message was strange for a few reasons. “I know we’ve talked before about these Biltmore employees,” he said with some scorn. He and I have never spoken, despite my multiple attempts over the years, including for a 2015 cover story. And we’ve definitely never discussed his unhappy staff, except for a couple of prepared statements sent through his publicist. Maybe he considers that talking.