PDA

View Full Version : Overstock prez on losing $14 mil: "My bad"; warns of takeover by Sith Lord; not gay!



jstreet
10-31-2005, 04:28 AM
Is There a Grown-Up Here? Anywhere?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick Byrne, the 42-year-old president of Overstock.com, a seller of excess retail inventory, apologized to investors yesterday for a $14.2 million third-quarter loss thusly, and we quote: "My bad."

Later in his conference call, he warned of a potential hostile takeover of his company being orchestrated by a "Sith lord," forcing the poor Bloomberg writer to explain what a Sith lord is. Perhaps investors can look forward to the company's Q4 earnings being dramatized with the aid of scale models and action figures. "Okay. Here's the Ewoks. That's us . . ." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/29/AR2005102900207.html


Never before in the history of Wall Street has a single conference call mentioned the following topics:

Miscreants, an unnamed Sith Lord he hopes the feds will bury under a prison, gay bath houses, whether he is gay, does cocaine, both or neither, and an obligatory, not that there is anything wrong with that, phone taps, phone lines misdirected to Mexico, arrested reporters, payoffs, conspiracies, crooks, egomaniacs, fools, paranoia, which newspapers are shills and for who, payoffs, money laundering, his Irish temper, false identities, threats, intimidation, and private investigators. All in 61 minutes. http://www.blogmaverick.com/entry/1234000780054315/

Edit: I've been informed the second link is from a previous conference call. There were apparently more than one looney-toon calls ;)

gear02
10-31-2005, 05:37 AM
hahaha...that's pretty funny.

MikeD
10-31-2005, 06:41 AM
I haven't read up on this much, but why the loss? I thought OSTK was doing well. Apparently I was off base...

The Street hasn't taken too well to Mr. Byrne recently either:

http://chart.finance.yahoo.com/c/1y/o/ostk

avlena
10-31-2005, 10:32 AM
:heh: The only way it could have been better is if he'd have replied: "bummer" instead!

ialsohaveadream
10-31-2005, 03:47 PM
I'm trying to determine whether it would be more enjoyable to work for a CEO that's just a wee bit insane, or completely insufferable.

guiseppewv
10-31-2005, 04:16 PM
Hmmm.....this guy would not instill any confidence in any stockholders anywhere.

TofuNinja
10-31-2005, 05:14 PM
Would have been cool if he just said, "sh!t happans." and shrugged.... but I guess you can't shrug on a conference call.