So how on earth did Amp'd Mobile, the gangsta cellphone operator which went bust this month, manage to burn through $360m in two years? Well, obviously, it didn't help that the venture, backed lavishly by investors such as MTV Networks and Universal Music Group, sold handsets to customers without proper credit checks. But word comes of one more unwarranted expense: Peter Adderton, the virtual operator's "visionary" founder, used to commute in to headquarters in Los Angeles from Orange County, down the coast — on the company's dime. By private helicopter.

Contact information for this author is not available.