In furtherance of my post yesterday, I wish to add two additional observations from my trip to the annual meeting.
First as to the issue of Mr. Evans- I stood and watched Evans have a lengthy conversation with a gentleman who regularly posts to Yahoo. This gentleman is a medical doctor. He had a significant grasp on the scientific aspects of what ABT is about and explained it to Evans in a manner in which anyone attempting to do so could have readily grasped it. During that conversation which I watched and listened to for over 10 minutes, Evans did not take one note so as to indicate to me that he was essentially ignoring the input which the good doctor was affording him.
It has been my experience with investigative reporters in general that ever since Watergate, they have felt that they are one man wrecking crews (ala Woodward & Bernstein) and they do not wish to have their jaundiced opinions sullied by facts. Evans certainly fits this model.
My second observation is prompted by the totally inaccurate reporting which is abroad indicating that JT was taken out of the meeting kicking and screaming and that his resignation was in the form of a palace coup. This is simply untrue. As referenced here by me yesterday, JT let this cat out of the bag in his last comments in the general meeting. He announced that he would be realizing a change of title but regardless of what his title was, even if it was janitor, he would continue to stay on and work behind the scenes for the betterment of ABT and the fulfillment of its purpose of enhancing shareholder value. It was a comment which unless it is distorted for effect should have been perceived as nothing but positive. He recognized the fact that he had accomplished acquisition which was his forte and it was now time to pass the torch to others who are more capable of integration and quite possibly merger or sale. He on several occasions mentioned that when he and JF founded the business, they did so with the view to the fact that if they did their job right, they would ultimately work themselves out of their job.
Having traveled several thousand miles to attend the meeting, I felt that it wasn't really out of my way to drive another mile and a half from the convention center to the headquarters and kick the tires a little bit to see what I owned. I was afforded a very nice tour of the facility by a well trained and well informed IR person. During that tour, I was led past JT's office which was standing open. When I looked in, he was working calmly at his desk and gave no impression to me of being the enraged egomaniac who had just been unwillingly stripped of his title and his job. I was particularly taken by the fact that there was present on the floor of his office, his pet German shepherd puppy who apparently is a regular visitor to the offices. As I passed by, JT waved to me and went back to his work.
One other comment which I feel necessary here is that I was most impressed by the fact that the headquarters building had been designed to be as functional as possible. It is furnished nicely but by no means could it be considered to be luxurious. I was taken by the fact that management had in this regard also shown themselves to have been good stewards of the stockholders' monies.
I offer these pieces of information to attempt to show the distortion efforts which are at work here and on the yahoo board as we speak.
OSO |
