Darrell, I just got to thinking about the appointment of the two new Iomega Corp. board members... Turns out the Mr. Bernard Puckett was a vice pres. at IBM with extensive experience in business strategy and in acquisition and merger activities. Sounds like IOM will need to have someone on the board with this type of experience, esp. with last year's purchase of Nomai and the acquisition of intellectual property and capital equipment from Syquest about to take place this year (following the completion of terms of bankruptcy court ruling).
The other fellow, Mr. Robert Seidl, taught at West Point during the same time period as when Jodie Glore was a cadet prior to his graduation in 1969. An old college contact and a person that may have impressed Mr. Glore back then. He has varied and broad experience in the executive levels of several large firms so would be useful in the further expansion of Iomega Zip and Clik! drives into new areas of the storage marketplace.
Is it possible that these guys could become new executives within Iomega? Also, when a company is interested in acquiring another company is it possible that one of their previous executives (IBM) might be put on the board of the company being considered prior to any actual proposal of a buyout being made... in this case IBM might be looking closely at a possible acquisition of Iomega? If I remember correctly, there have been rumors about IBM having had behind-the-scenes contacts with IOM over the past year. Not sure if any of these ideas would hold water, but it is interesting to speculate on why they are expanding the Board of Directors at Iomega at this time.
Mel
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Excerpt of Previous News Release from Yahoo:
Thursday February 4, 8:31 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Iomega Names M. Bernard Puckett and John M. Seidl to Board of Directors
ROY, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 4, 1999--Iomega Corporation (NYSE:IOM - news) today announced that M. Bernard Puckett, a private investor who was formerly president and chief executive officer of Mobile Telecommunications Technologies Corp. and senior vice president, corporate strategy and development for International Business Machines Corporation [NYSE:IBM - news], and John Michael (''Mick'') Seidl, chairman, president and chief executive officer of CellNet Data Systems, Inc., and formerly president and a director of MAXXAM, Inc., have been appointed to Iomega's board of directors.
The appointments were effective Wednesday, February 3, 1999.
''We are pleased to be adding two very accomplished, senior executives to Iomega's board of directors,'' said David J. Dunn, chairman of the board, Iomega Corporation. ''Mick Seidl brings many years of leadership in data network services and various natural resource concerns, as well as significant military, government and educational experience to Iomega. We are also pleased to add Bernard Puckett's technology expertise to our board. His more than 27 years of product, marketing and finance experience in significant senior management positions with IBM will be invaluable in guiding Iomega's future.''
Mr. Bernard Puckett brings senior technology experience to Iomega from both IBM and Mobile Telecommunication Technologies (''MTEL''). From 1994 to 1996, he was president and subsequently, president and chief executive officer, of MTEL, which is now SKYTEL, a worldwide paging company. Mr. Puckett capped his distinguished career at International Business Machines as its senior vice president-corporate strategy and development, where he was responsible for driving IBM's overall business strategy and associated merger and acquisition activities.
Mr. Puckett joined IBM in sales, ultimately becoming vice president of sales for IBM's Western U.S. division. He held multiple product, marketing and finance positions at IBM from 1967 and 1993, including: -- vice president, marketing - U.S.; -- director business plans - worldwide; -- chief financial officer, U.S. marketing and service; -- vice president, communications - worldwide; -- president of IBM's mainframe division, responsible for worldwide
development, manufacturing and product management; and -- senior vice president and group executive for applications
solutions, responsible for industry-specific hardware and
software, and IBM's entry into the services sector through
IBM Consulting Group and ISSC, IBM's outsourcing group.
Mr. Puckett, 54, is a graduate of the University of Mississippi with a bachelor of science degree in mathematics. He is a director of R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company, IMS Health, P-Com, Inc., Neilson Media Research and Software.com, and an investor in other private companies.
Mr. Seidl, who was also elected to Iomega's board yesterday, joined CellNet Data Systems, a low-cost wireless data network services provider to the utility industry, in 1994 after a fourteen-year career in various natural resource and energy concerns. Mr. Seidl is the former president and an ex-director of MAXXAM, Inc., which is a sixty-five percent owner of Kaiser Aluminum, and the parent company of Pacific Lumber Company and MAXXAM Property Company. From 1989 to 1992, he served as chairman and chief executive officer of Kaiser Aluminum, and from 1990 to 1992, he was chairman and chief executive officer of Pacific Lumber and chairman of MAXXAM Property Company.
From 1984 to 1989, Mr. Seidl held various executive positions, including president, chief operating officer and director of Enron Corp. [NYSE:ENE - news], an international energy company formed in 1985 from the merger of Houston Natural Gas Corporation and InterNorth, Inc. Prior to Enron, Mr. Seidl held various executive management positions with subsidiaries of The Natomas Company, a diversified energy company with international operations in Indonesia, the U.K., the U.S., Canada, and several other countries.
Mr. Seidl, 59, is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and has both a master of public administration degree and a doctorate in political economy and government from Harvard University. Prior to his career in energy and natural resources, Mr. Seidl was a member of the economics and public management faculty at Stanford University's graduate school of business. From 1971 to 1973, he was deputy assistant secretary, program development and budget, in the U.S. Department of the Interior. From 1961 to 1971, Mr. Seidl served in the United States Air Force where he advanced from second lieutenant to captain. As a captain, he was an assistant professor in the department of social sciences at West Point from 1968 to 1971.
Mr. Seidl is a director of the Denver, Colorado-based St. Mary's Land and Exploration Company, and a member of the endowment board, and former board member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He is a former chairman and president of the Houston Grand Opera, and a former member of the board of governors of the Nature Conservancy of Arlington, Virginia. |
