Can we talk about this?... Overstock has historically been that harmless go-to shopping site where your mom snags a duvet cover for 70% off four years ago and still talks about it. But shares suffered their worst 2-day drop ever and then bounced back 16% Wednesday. It all goes back to the CEO Patrick Byrne's cryptic relationship with a woman he met at a 2015 conference.
Turns out she was Russian spy... They began a 3-year relationship, and now she's in jail serving 18 months. Here's what kicked off the stock drop this week:
- Overstock shockingly announced the romance via press release on Monday.
- Patrick then went on TV, discussing the "men in black" and US agents he worked with regarding the 2016 election Russia investigation.
- He wasn't done on Wednesday. Overstock issued another press release claiming Patrick was "the notorious missing Chapter 1" in the whole investigation. Confusion dropped shares further.
Overstock highlights the risks of personality leadership... Big leaders can define big strategies. But Overstock's been in this situation before where Patrick's choices shake up shares. When he developed a passion for cryptocurrencies, he decried Overstock no longer a retail company, but a blockchain one. Except it is a retail company. The stock's volatility reflects some of that confusion.