I say screw the bounce, let the dust settle.
More tales from the front
mad2
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Walker Digital Lays Off Most of Headquarters Staff
By STEPHANIE MILES
WSJ.COM
Walker Digital Inc. has laid off most of its headquarters staff in a
drastic restructuring, the latest setback for Jay Walker, the founder of
Priceline.com Inc.
Walker Digital was conceived in 1995 by Mr. Walker as an intellectual
property laboratory and Internet business incubator, and is responsible
for developing the name-your-price technology that Priceline.com uses.
On Tuesday, the closely held company laid off at least 100 out of 125
employees at its Stamford, Conn., headquarters, according to a spokesman
for Mr. Walker.
Walker Digital also is shutting down three early stage start-ups, which
are located in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Atlanta. The remaining 200
Walker Digital employees include a skeleton staff in Stamford, and
workers at Retail DNA Inc. and Skill Games Inc., two Walker Digital
companies.
"After extensive internal review, Walker Digital is restructuring its
headquarters staff," said Kevin Goldman, spokesman for Mr. Walker.
Mr. Goldman emphasized that Walker Digital isn't shutting down
operations, but will instead focus specifically on its invention
laboratory and the licensing of its intellectual property portfolio. The
company holds about 50 patents and has 300 patents pending.
Some employees laid off this week said executives told them that the
company is indeed winding down operations.
Mr. Goldman, speaking for Mr. Walker, vigorously disputed that
assertion. "We're not shutting down," he said.
Laid-off employees also said they were offered no severance pay or
continuing health insurance, although Mr. Goldman said that after
considering the logistics of the issue, Walker Digital will in fact
offer some type of severance.
The layoffs come after Walker Digital's latest round of funding fell
through this week. The company had raised $200 million from investors,
which include venture-capital firm General Atlantic Partners, according
to the company's Web site. General Atlantic declined to comment on the
status of its relationship with Walker Digital.
Mr. Walker, meanwhile, has seen Priceline's shares plummet from a
52-week high of $105 in March to a 52-week low of $2.21 this week.
In the last few weeks, Priceline has lost both Chief Financial Officer
Heidi Miller and the head of its auto-services business, Maryann Keller.
Priceline announced layoffs when it released third-quarter earnings
earlier this month. In October, Priceline shut down its name-your-price
grocery business, Priceline Webhouse Club, which had burned through $363
million in funding.
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