3. Bad Money

Complete story — includes the ending

Though his colleagues disapprove, Richard reluctantly agrees to take Monica's advice and let Hooli acquire Pied Piper. However, Russ Hanneman, a flashy billionaire who made his money by putting radio on the Internet (a parody of Mark Cuban ), offers Richard $5 million for equity in Pied Piper and two seats on its board. Monica warns Richard that Hooli is the safer option and that Hanneman is a terrible person, but Richard ignores her. Monica informs Bream who expresses disgust at the idea of being associated with Hanneman. Now funded, Pied Piper begins creating a budget for the next 18 months, and negotiating how many new people they will hire. Hanneman arrives and disrupts the budget meeting by talking loudly on the phone and hanging out with his friend Cory. Erlich tries to befriend Hanneman but fails. Hanneman tells Pied Piper that revenue is a bad thing, that the check he gave them is just a "show check", and buys several Pied Piper billboards without asking. Meanwhile, Belson compares the treatment of billionaires to the suffering of Jews in the Holocaust during an interview, manages the backlash, and gets his lawyers to figure out how to improve his case for suing Pied Piper.