Fifteen Minutes of Shame
How a Twitter Mob Nearly Ruined My Life
Warren Buffet once said that all it takes is five minutes to ruin a reputation. For Des Hague, it only took forty-two seconds.
In 2014, Hague’s life was a bona fide rags-to-riches success story. After nearly twenty years of steadily climbing the corporate ladder, he had risen from living in the back of a fish-and-chips shop to becoming the CEO of one of the top hospitality providers in the world.
But when a video surfaced on Twitter of him kicking a dog in an elevator, everything changed. A mob formed on social media that spread like wildfire. Despite expressing deep regret for his actions, he was forced to resign from his job, and his family was threatened.
What the mob didn’t know was that the person depicted in the short video clip was the exact opposite of who Hague really was—a man who had survived a childhood of physical and sexual abuse, spent decades building a loving family and a high-flying career, and raised millions to fight child homelessness. Though ultimately there was little harm to the dog, his life was nearly destroyed in a few short days by thousands of people he had never met.
In Fifteen Minutes of Shame, Hague tells the inspiring story of how he overcame the odds to find improbable success and not only reveals the person behind the forty-two-second clip but makes a compelling argument against the dangers of embracing cancel culture.
Des Hague
Des Hague is a nine-time president and CEO and a highly regarded innovator in the international business community. Over more than thirty years, his forward-thinking approaches as a high-level executive have achieved sustained growth and robust competitiveness for companies such as 7-Eleven, Centerplate, Safeway, IHOP, and Maytag.
He currently serves as co-founder and CEO of Hague Enterprises, sits on the boards of MRGN and YoungCaruso, and is an active mentor, advising several start-up ventures and working with numerous private equity groups to create more than half a billion dollars in returns for investors. Outside of the business world, he has received numerous community leader awards and helped raise more than $100 million for a variety of nonprofits.
He holds an MBA from the American College in London and resides in Colorado with his wife, Carol. They are the proud parents of two sons, Patrick and Desmond Jr., and have three grandchildren.