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To: foundation who wrote (87748)	11/17/2000 10:54:47 AM
From: JohnG	Respond to of 152472

Cramer of Street.com shuts Brit ofc in $$ cutting effort. JohnG INTERNET TheStreet.com closes British operation, slashes workforce ASSOCIATED PRESS in New York Financial news site TheStreet.com has announced a cost-cutting programme that includes slashing 20 per cent of its workforce, shutting down its British operation and dismantling a joint newsroom with The New York Times. Thomas Clarke, chief executive of TheStreet.com, told investors on a conference call that the measures would provide a "huge step" toward the company's goal of becoming profitable by the second half of next year. "In today's environment, companies have two clear choices: chart a direct path to profitability or shut down," Mr Clarke said in a statement. "We're in this for the long haul. And to go the distance, we must operate at peak efficiency." About half of the expected annual cost savings of US$18 million would come from the closure of the TheStreet.com's British operation, which was due to run out of money by the end of the year. TheStreet.com owns 63 per cent of the year-old business and plans to buy out the other investors for US$3 million in cash and 1.25 million shares in stock. Like many other Internet companies, TheStreet.com has stumbled in trying to find a workable model for making money from advertising and charging for content. This week, Playboy Enterprises said it would postpone an initial public offering of its online operations, following similar moves from MTV and The New York Times Co. Shares of TheStreet.com fell 53.1 US cents, or 15 per cent, to US$2.969 on the Nasdaq Stock Market, well off their 52-week high of US$22. The shares had traded as high as US$71.25 in May last year when the company went public. The cuts, announced on Thursday, included the elimination of 40 jobs across the company, which would save about US$3 million a year, Mr Clarke said. He said the cuts would not have a major impact on the site's editorial content. Mr Clarke said TheStreet.com also had reached a "mutual agreement" with The New York Times to shut down their 18-month-old joint newsroom, which employed seven journalists and provided news stories to both TheStreet.com and the Times' Web site. "We learned a great deal, but times have changed since it was established," Mr Clarke said on the conference call. The New York Times Co remains a minority investor in TheStreet.com with a 5.7 per cent interest. TheStreet.com has experimented with different subscription models but so far none have proved profitable. TheStreet.com lost US$9.6 million on revenues of US$6.2 million for the three months ended in September, compared with a loss of US$7.8 million on revenues of US$3.9 million in the same period a year ago. However, TheStreet.com still has a stockpile of US$90 million in cash, and Mr Clarke said he would continue to consider acquiring other companies as a way to expand. TheStreet.com was co-founded by Martin Peretz, publisher of The New Republic magazine, and Jim Cramer, a flamboyant hedge fund manager. Videos What's On