Upson Pratt is the abusive, miserly founder and CEO of Pratt International, a company that owns a share of stock in almost every business in America. Suffering from fear of germs, people, and especially insects, Pratt stays holed up in his hospital like, germ proof penthouse apartment, where everything is wired with a schizophrenic level of security and every surface (sans his jukebox) is pure white. The tyrannical tycoon doesn't care who he has to crush to get what he wants, considering everyone outside 'bugs' that he can just step on. One stormy night, however, a few cockroaches become uninvited guests in his penthouse. Their numbers triple during a blackout and eventually, Upson Pratt gets what's coming to him.