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Thomas Stemberg

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Entrepreneur

The Resume

    (January 18, 1949-October 23, 2015)
    Born in Orange, New Jersey
    Co-founder of the office supply retail chain Staples, Inc (1986)
    Net worth of $200 million

Why he might be annoying:

    Before forming Staples, he was a big wig in the grocery biz until he got fired for arguing with his bosses.
    His friend (and early Staples investor) Mitt Romney noted about his often combative personality, 'He didn't play well with other children.'
    He was married three times, divorced twice.
    During Staples' early years, he would send his kids to scout out his competitors' stores.
    He drove a lot of mom and pop stationery stores out of business.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He won a scholarship to Harvard.
    He said he was inspired to open an office supply store when he needed a typewriter ribbon over the Fourth of July weekend and could not find an open store.
    He lowered prices on office supplies and said 'My priority is saving people money.'
    After Mitt Romney was elected governor, Stemberg advised him, 'If you really want to do a service to the people of Massachusetts, you should find a way of getting health care coverage to them.'
    Romney noted, 'Without Tom, a lot of people wouldn't have health insurance.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 19 Votes: 94.74% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 8 Votes: 87.50% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 11 Votes: 36.36% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 29 Votes: 89.66% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 71 Votes: 49.30% Annoying