CEO of Overstock.com Fails to 'Celebrate' Libel Suit

Patrick Byrne, the CEO of Overstock.com (OSTK) and the clown prince of small-company charlatans, had a minor meltdown in reaction to an announcement by Gradient Analytics that it is filing a libel suit against Byrne.

Compare that to a taunting Overstock press release in March 2006 that urged Gradient to take action against his company.

So why has he not "celebrated" the libel suit, the way he once "celebrated" an SEC subpoena?

Gradient is the independent research firm that was targeted by Byrne after it published accurate, but damning, research exposing the company's financial weakness. Any kind of criticism sends Byrne off the deep end, and the accuracy of Gradient's research is indicated by Byrne's reaction, which was filing a baseless lawsuit against the company and a hedge fund.

As noted in the Salt Lake City Tribune article, a SEC investigation of Gradient, paralleling Byrne's accusations, was dropped by the SEC, but a probe of Byrne by the SEC is still pending.

Byrne then went on a campaign portraying himself as a "victim of hedge funds," even though he used to be in the hedge fund business himself, has a brother who runs a hedge fund, and a hedge fund ("High Plains Investments") is the entity through which he owns Overstock shares. Hypocrisy, of course, is one of Byrne's more flattering characteristics.

Comments

[Berkstock3:]

Gary,

How about writing about Overstock.com buying back over one million shares of common stock recently for LESS than $11 a share.

This is great news for shareholders and the Overstock BOD and Dr. Byrne should be proud of looking out for shareholders best interest imo.

2008 Apr 16 06:44 PM