Found guy totally broke off his ass. Started a lawn mowing business for him. He made $24,000 this year, the first year. I predict he's on track to make $38,000 next year and $43,000 the year after that. When I met him, he had nothing. He now has his own business.
I get 10% of the bands I manage. I asked him for $500 and said I'd handle any legal shit that came up next year for him, well below 10% of $24,000.... It was the first time I asked him for anything, ever. He laughed in my face and said, "you didn't do anything!" It was really quite pleasant, except for the sting of it, which is to say it wasn't pleasant at all.
-snip-
Part of our job, as decent, kind, and compassionate human beings, is to encourage other humans to be decent, kind, and compassionate as well- to convey our global interdependence to them, and how we all rise and fall together. Sometimes, a hard lesson in what happens when we don't all work together can be the only way to establish this. If explaining how your work has benefited him in almost unprecedented ways was not enough for him to do his part in offering thanks and compensation for that work, I'd say it's your duty to help him realize this in other ways.
I don't know if pulling the clients out from under him is a nice thing, but it's a way to go about it. Expressing his lack of professionalism and his brand of ruthlessness to his clients is not a bad thing either; you've learned something new about him, and informing his clients of this will allow them to make the decision for whether or not they want to keep contracting his services. I would argue that the truth, by its nature, can never be a bad thing.
Bye guys. Been a good run. I'll miss y'all.
This is sudden. Take care, and best of luck in your worldly travels, Glyph.