Dancing Lessons
Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, is a sharp entrepreneur who turned a bankrupt Utah County company into a $1 billion online closeout retail phenomenon in seven years.
But his business savvy pales before his talents as a legislative dance instructor.
Long story short: Overstock.com has been victimized in the past year by unscrupulous stock brokers who fail to deliver on stocks they've sold -- pushing down the value of the company's real shares.
As any free market-loving entrepreneur will tell you, when the going gets tough, you get regulation.
Whistling up the aid of Sen. Curt Bramble and Rep. John Dougall, Byrne choreographed SB3004, a pack of amendments to tighten Utah's securities law.
Alas, the bill failed to pass in the final hours of March's Legislature.
So, Byrne called for an encore. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. two-stepped the bill onto the call for Wednesday's special session. The session was supposed to be reserved for technical changes and other trivial issues like emergency dental care for the poor.
The night before the special session, woefully misguided advocates for the poor and disabled tried to call their representatives and even gathered forlornly outside the Capitol. Some outside the legislative chambers Wednesday night sobbed at their inability to move lawmakers.
Byrne, however, paid couriers to bear a letter to each and every member of the Legislature, explaining, "Overstock is now in a battle with some bad actors on Wall Street that has repercussions for entrepreneurship across the nation..."
Then Byrne played the Legislature like, well, a violin: "I do not believe that Overstock could have grown as it has anywhere other than Utah. Utah has a loyal hardworking and well-educated workforce. Utah also has a legal and regulatory
atmosphere that some call "business friendly" but I call "pro-law" (as opposed to other states, which have weak rule of law). I applaud you for creating that atmosphere."
A few hours later, the Senate flushed dental care for the poor without debate. But regulatory care for the Big O waltzed through.
-- Glen Warchol
blogs.sltrib.com |
