"Oh yeah, tons of times." Jack rubs his own neck a bit, to help get the blood flowing normally again. His answer is quick and easy, no trace of hesitation or shame.

"The shithead who was president of Hyperion before me was the first. Real piece of work, left me and everybody on my space station to die a bunch of times. Refused to call me anything other than my full name, didn't matter how many times I corrected him, he knew it pissed me off." Tassiter had been good at pushing Jack's buttons.

"Strangled him with my watch chain when I finally had enough. He was running the company into the ground anyway. Nobody even said anything!
They were just all 'okay, sure, Jack's president now, cool!'"