Ben Winck, 19 September 2019
Overstock founder and former CEO Patrick Byrne sold nearly 5 million shares totaling roughly $90 million in order to invest in “counter-cyclical” assets like gold and cryptocurrencies.
Byrne plans to make his new investments by Friday. He can also provide “a capital injection if needed by buying back into Overstock” as soon as March 17, 2020, a Wednesday blog post highlighted.
The former executive added that his move into crypto and precious metals allows him to move his capital “outside acts of retaliation from the Deep State.”
“That is important because, in fact, I am now going to shellac them,” he wrote. “Actually, ‘shellac’ is too weak a word for what I intend to do to the Deep State. Sit back and enjoy the show.”
The company’s founder cited insurance, controversy, and hedging for the reasons behind his sale, and that it wasn’t due to a “lack of confidence” in the e-commerce business. Finding corporate insurance while leading Overstock was “impossible,” the former CEO said, and the company’s success in 2019 made for a good time to sell.
