I love Mad Men for so many reasons. Without listing all of them, one of them is that the show is painstakingly invested in the details. From the wardrobes, to the sets, to the dialogue, to the details of the business. However, I find some of the details surrounding Lane's "firing" implausible.
Primarily being that Lane was a Senior Partner of SDCP, meaning he had a vested ownership interest in the entity. This was not a junior interest, but a large share of the company. Therefore, Don does not have the authority to tell Lane to resign. Lane would have known this, since he is the CFO for the company. Removing a partner would have taken the approval of all partners, and furthermore it would have required a payout to Lane for his interest in the firm. Lane invested 50K into the business. Someone with Lane's business experience and acumen would have realized that even accusations or criminal charges of embezzlement would have resulted in him receiving some sort of payout. Even if he went to jail, he would still be entitled to his share of the company.
In the real world, Don would have said, "You are going to have to resign if you do not want the other partners to hear about this". Lane would have then had the option to resign and be bought out in a lump sum by the other partners, retain his interest in SDCP, or receive his shares in a series of payments.
My point is, I loved the episode, but the business details of the plot line do not add up to a plausible scenario of events. Lane is smarter than this season has presented him as. Lane would have actually been in a position where his finances were about to improve (should he have resigned). This brings up the point that Lane should have requested his interest by bought out when he realized he needed the cash flow initially before defrauding SDCP, but that is another episode.
Primarily being that Lane was a Senior Partner of SDCP, meaning he had a vested ownership interest in the entity. This was not a junior interest, but a large share of the company. Therefore, Don does not have the authority to tell Lane to resign. Lane would have known this, since he is the CFO for the company. Removing a partner would have taken the approval of all partners, and furthermore it would have required a payout to Lane for his interest in the firm. Lane invested 50K into the business. Someone with Lane's business experience and acumen would have realized that even accusations or criminal charges of embezzlement would have resulted in him receiving some sort of payout. Even if he went to jail, he would still be entitled to his share of the company.
In the real world, Don would have said, "You are going to have to resign if you do not want the other partners to hear about this". Lane would have then had the option to resign and be bought out in a lump sum by the other partners, retain his interest in SDCP, or receive his shares in a series of payments.
My point is, I loved the episode, but the business details of the plot line do not add up to a plausible scenario of events. Lane is smarter than this season has presented him as. Lane would have actually been in a position where his finances were about to improve (should he have resigned). This brings up the point that Lane should have requested his interest by bought out when he realized he needed the cash flow initially before defrauding SDCP, but that is another episode.