Michael Robertson's Two Years of Silence to Linspire Shareholders

Michael Robertson loves to talk, except to shareholders.

Today, July 31, 2009, marks the two-year anniversary of me having resigned from Linspire. (I resigned after Michael Robertson tried to take advantage of several long-term employees, whom he later called embezzlers for having taken fair severance payments. Class-act move Robertson.)

At the time of my resignation, in an effort to save the company (which I was certain Robertson would destroy in short order), I offered to purchase control of the company by buying up stock for around $.50 a share (in cash). Robertson didn't even respond to my offer, and in under a year, the company was gone. Robertson tried to save face by saying he had sold the assets to Xandros in a back-room deal. Knowing this was a sham, and that Linspire stock was now worthless, I offered to let Robertson purchase my shares for ONE FIFTH of what I had offered to buy it for only ten months prior ($.10 per share). Of course, he knew the company wasn't worth anything and didn't accept the offer.

So, here we are, two years later, and around 100 shareholders have not heard what happened to their investment in Linspire. Anyone thinking of investing in Robertson should look carefully at how he has treated the Linspire shareholders, employees, customers, partners, etc.

Below is some toilet paper I purchased yesterday and a copy of my Linspire stock certificate. Can you guess which one is worth more?

One roll of toilet paper: $1.19

694,328 shares of Linspire stock: Worthless

At least the toilet paper is twin-ply, soft and absorbent.

I had offered to BUY Linspire shares at $.50 per share, and in the blink of an eye, Robertson had turned it into less than the value of a roll of toilet paper. Greedy, unethical AND incompetent. No wonder he's a coward to face the shareholders.

Kevin

Michael Robertson Wins for the Craziest Digital Music Idea

Michael Robertson, always the wanna-be defender of the little guy (while stepping all over shareholders, former employees, vendors, customers, musicians, partners, copyright holders, etc.), asked in his latest blog for people to vote for the "Craziest Digital Music Ideas Ever."

Boy, he sure forget a whopper from his list:
My.MP3 - Michael Robertson's pet project which tanked MP3.com from a market cap in the billions to millions. MP3.com went public for over $25 per share, and ultimately sold for under $6 per share. (I'm not sure my dog could have done that poorly.) As usual with Robertson, many investors lost big and employees who held stock options were left underwater, and the artists and customers (who Robertson built MP3.com on the backs of) lost a once-promising website. Of course, Robertson made off big, even if most other shareholders didn't.
Why it was crazy: Because it blatantly violated copyright law, and handed MP3.com the largest judgment for copyright infringement in history. "The complex marvels of cyberspatial communication may create difficult legal issues; but not in this case. Defendant's (MP3.com) infringement of plaintiffs' copyrights is clear." ~ Judge Rakoff
When I get asked, "How do you start a small business?" I answer, "Buy a big one, let Michael Robertson run it, and wait awhile." Robertson never wanted to be known as a "one trick poney." I never understood that. What was his FIRST successful "pony?" Destroying MP3.com?
Kevin