Sam Antar is warning people about getting in the way of Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, as it seems those who have questioned his business operations and ethics have had some mighty interesting stuff to contend with. In a recent blog entry, Sam has the following to say:
As a criminal I knew ugly and vile behavior up close because I practiced it with a cold, dark, and heartless soul. I knew all too well how to use your humanity as a weakness to be exploited. I knew all too well how to win you over with honey. Also, when honey did not work I knew how to instill fear in you through intimidation.
Today, we have a war being conducted by Patrick Byrne (CEO of Overstock.com) against almost anyone who does not fit into his agenda of deflecting from the poor performance of Overstock.com. If you mess with Patrick Byrne, watch out, his anger seems to know no bounds.
As a convicted felon I understand Patrick Byrne?..s war of intimidation, smears, and deflection from the personal experience of my own vile criminal actions. Below, I outline some of Patrick Byrne?..s actions and some of those persons who work in concert with either him or Judd Bagley (Director of Social Media at Overstock.com).
I’ll talk more about the details of the Overstock issue in a later post, but tn February, Herb Greenberg wrote the following about Byrne:
Investors Burned by Byrne (Again)Overstock (ostk) CEO Patrick Byrne is lucky — lucky because an investment firm he controls is his company’s largest shareholder. It it weren’t, and he were a mere employee — as are most CEOs — he would’ve been fired long ago for incompetence. The fourth quarter, which should be any retailer’s best, wasn’t just bad; it was a disaster, with the worst losses of the year. (So much for an earlier theory he floated that suggested profits would grow as sales slowed.) Quarter after quarter Byrne confesses his sins, yet keeps his job, thanks largely (it would appear) to a board of friends instead of fiduciaries.
Who else would put up with such poor performance?
Here’s Patrick, in the first quarter, saying, “Our theme for this year is to slow growth during the first half of the year so we can work on improving internal business processes in preparation for stronger performance in Q4 and beyond. We continue to anticipate things will look better in Q3, and to be out of the ditch by Q4.”
Second quarter: “…this work has proceeded at a slightly faster pace than I had expected.” He later said in the same earnings release, “I believe that the internal health of the business has never been better.”
Third quarter: “The Q3 financial results were poor.” He added, “I have been unsuccessful at predicting the future for awhile…”
Fourth quarter: “The fourth quarter was a difficult end to a tough rebuilding year.” But then, with zero credibility at forecasting, goes on to say, “I believe the company has fixed the problems that began in Q4 2005, and we are entering 2007 with a fresh start.”
…
About the only good thing Byrne has done is allow himself not to be paid a salary. And in the unlikely event he gets fired, according to the proxy, he won’t get any severance beyond possibly an accelerated vesting of options.
