worth over $1 billion [1]. He has now sold his stake for about $60 million. So here's a guy who has lost about a billion, roughly 94% of the value of his holdings at their peak. But how does Today demagogue it in its opening: "payday"!

Sure, no one's should feel too sorry for Cayne. If he clips supermarket coupons and is careful, he'll probably be able to feed his family on the measly $61 million. Even so, that's no justification for the misleading way NBC played the class-warfare game in depicting the situation in its opening.

Aside: In 2006, Lauer reportedly [2]signed a contract with NBC paying him $13 million per year for five years, a total of $65 million. Let's imagine that as a result of some kind of corporate turmoil, Lauer agreed to be bought out of his contract for $3.9 million, the same 94% reduction that Cayne incurred in the value of his shareholdings from their highest value. Do you think Matt would be touting this as "cashing in" and getting a "payday" for himself?