Pava LaPere’s grisly murder sparks fresh fears of ‘Forbes curse’
The brutal slaying of Baltimore tech CEO Pava LaPere is sparking fresh fears of a supposed “Forbes curse.”
The battered body of the 26-year-old EcoMap Technologies co-founder was found Monday on the rooftop of her luxury apartment building in Mount Vernon, with a convicted rapist busted Wednesday night for the barbaric attack.
But LaPere’s inclusion on the prestigious Forbes list for her social impact was eerily speculated earlier this year as a “bad omen” by financial advisor and author Teddy Sibuyi on LinkedIn.
Though LaPere’s slaying appeared to be a random attack that had nothing to do with her business prowess, she’s at least the second Forbes honoree recently killed.
Christian Kazadi, 29 — founder of the South Africa-based digital marketing agency Click Media — was found dead on May 2 in police custody in the Democratic Republic of the Congo under murky circumstances.
Kazadi had attended the first-ever Forbes Under 30 Africa summit in Botswana last year, according to Forbes.
“He never made it back home from the Forbes event,” Patrick Kazadi, Christian’s younger brother and co-founder and CEO of Click Media told the outlet in May. “[We need] answers so the family can finally finish the grieving process and put the people who did this to justice.”
Another Forbes honoree facing trouble is Sam Bankman-Fried, 31, who made the 30 Under 30 list in 2021 before the collapse of his former crypto exchange FTX. He’s now facing fraud and money laundering charges in connection with his alleged attempt to defraud customers out of $8 billion.
And Martin Shkreli, now 40, went from being featured by Forbes Magazine for his work in the pharmaceutical industry in 2013 and also made the 30 Under 30 list, to one of the country’s most hated men two years later after jacking up the price of a drug that treats infectious diseases from $14 to $750 — then lashing out at critics and smirking his way through a congressional hearing.
Shkreli, known derisively as the “Pharma Bro,” was eventually arrested for securities fraud and conspiracy, charges unrelated to his company’s price-hiking antics.
Then there’s founder and former CEO of Theranos Elizabeth Holmes, 39 — who had a net worth of $4.5 billion at just 30 years old — but was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2022 after making up claims about the company’s technology, business and financial performance.
Holmes was named on America’s Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40 list in 2015, before dropping off a year later, and did attend the 30 Under 30 Summit the same year, where she received the Under 30 Doer Award.
October 2011 Forbes Magazine coverstar, Aubrey McClendon — founder and former CEO of Chesapeake Energy — killed himself being indicted for conspiring to rig oil and gas leases, and Sam Wyly, a billionaire businessman who made the Forbes 400 list in 2010, was convicted of tax fraud and insider trading;
The ominous list of fallen Forbes’ honorees also includes ex-Enron CEO Jeff Skilling, who appeared in a July 2000 issue of Forbes Magazine, and junk-bond king Michael Milken, who made the Forbes 400 list in 2022.
“The common denominator in many of these cases is a combination of greed, fraud, and deceit,” Teddy Sibuyi wrote in an April LinkedIn post that has since recirculated.
“The Forbes curse is a cautionary tale for anyone who seeks fame and fortune through questionable means. Success and recognition should not come at the expense of one’s integrity and honesty.”
