What Arconic's (former) CEO wrote that got him fired

Earlier this week came the resignation of Klaus Kleinfeld as CEO of metal maker Arconic, which has been locked in a contentious proxy fight with activist investment firm Elliott Management. At issue was a letter he privately sent to Elliott boss Paul Singer, without permission from Arconic's board of directors.

Elliott today disclosed the letter, and it reads a bit like amateur extortion. Or Kleinfeld's inability to properly tell a good joke:

Quite a few people who accompanied you to Berlin in 2006 during and especially after the many matches you attended are still full of remarkable memories about this obviously remarkable time.

Kleinfeld seems to have thought that Singer might give up a big-dollar battle so as to keep such memories private. Apparently not.