Wow, here's a blast from the past. I hope this stock is nothing but a plaything to those of you still here. It's like a time warp on this board. This is from the Motley Fool:
Kim Edwards, former President and CEO, Iomega (March 1998)
By Jean Macaulay
The flamboyant, Ferrari-driving executive took the reins of this stodgy disk-drive manufacturer in January 1994 promising "A New Iomega (NYSE: IOM)." Telling the old regime that "their baby was ugly" (referring to its flagship product, the Bernoulli drive), Kim Edwards oversaw the launch of the Zip Drive and revolutionized the company's image and stock price. Enthusiasm of early adopters who were convinced that the Zip would replace floppy drives in computers worldwide caused investors to drive Iomega's stock up 1300% during 1995-96.
A year later, component shortages, quality control issues, and a misdirected $100 million ad campaign had taken a huge toll on Iomega's parabolic promise and its stock plunged 75% in three months. In the fourth quarter of 1997, amid hints of big news coming at the Comdex show and a reviving stock price, Mr. Edwards sold over 342,000 shares (35% of his holdings) at an average price of $28/share just days before the company announced yet another stock split. Post-split, the stock ended 1997 at $12.
With nearly $10 million safely in his pocket -- and a golden parachute coming -- Edwards announced his resignation on the same day Iomega reported its disappointing first-quarter 1998 earnings and the stock fell overnight to $6, or more than double what it is today. |
