Off topic -- NYT article about Rocker Partners' short-selling guy.
I finally read a post that I had noticed (and left a note to myself to "check out" at some point) a while back.
It was on the SI "Biotech News" thread (even though there was not a single word about biotech in the entire article).
Here is the link :
Message 16044313
Here is a "juicy" excerpt (to try to lure you in, to reading a long article) :
<<Lernout & Hauspie is the stock that cemented Mr. Cohodes' reputation. The battle between
Lernout and Rocker was one of the ugliest ever between short-sellers and a company and it
ultimately vindicated Mr. Cohodes. Based in Ieper, Belgium, Lernout is a software company
that specializes in speech translation programs. Both Microsoft and Intel backed Lernout,
which was traded on the Nasdaq stock market until December; at its peak in March 2000,
when it fetched $65 a share, Lernout had a market valuation of $9.3 billion.
These days, Lernout's shares trade for 25 cents. Mr. Bastiaens, Jo Lernout, Pol Hauspie, and
Nico Willaert, the company's former top executives, have been charged with fraud and
manipulating Lernout's stock price.
In 1998, Mr. Cohodes tried to buy Lernout's software for his son. He was told by a salesman
that Lernout had shipped software that the salesman's company had not ordered. Mr.
Cohodes looked deeper. He watched a Lernout demonstration at Comdex, the giant
computer trade show, and concluded that it was unconvincing.
After examining the company's financial statements, he decided that Lernout had pumped up
its revenue with related-party transactions. Later, ... >>
Jon. |
