Overstock, the online retail giant that sells furniture and bedding at high discounts, has confirmed the news of appointing its new CEO Jonathan Johnson, after the shocking resignation of the former CEO Patrick Byrne. A huge Bitcoin fan, Byrne stepped down following his alleged relationship of 3 years with Russian spy Maria Butina (she is serving 18 months of imprisonment lately) and assisting in some political espionage against the law. He also claimed to have regular interactions with the FBI, and the government instructed him how to interact with Maria.
However, Jonathan had been acting as an interim CEO since August 22 and had been reappointed as the acting CEO when Byrne stepped down from his position, after proclaiming to have dumped all off his equity holdings worth nearly $100 million, in the company. He had planned to reinvest the money for cryptocurrency and precious metals. In a cryptic message on his personal website, Byrne has explained the reasons for his resignation from Overstock. He blamed Deep State, the Securities and Exchange Commission for the sell-off. In support of his claims, he said that the move was to save Overstock from regulators, who were trying to break the company. Just as said, Byrne tried to impede short-sellers, who he believed were targeting Overstock by issuing the Company’s dividend through tZero. It is a digital asset on the company’s subsidiary exchange. He said that Deep State could cripple the Overstock just as they have crippled him.
On the appointment of Jonathan Johnson as the new CEO, Allison Abraham, the Chairperson of the Company’s BOD, said,
Johnson is a strong leader with a steady hand. He is the best choice to lead Overstock. He has the right experience in both our retail and blockchain businesses, and the Board has confidence in his ability to deliver value to our shareholders.
The Company experienced turbulent times for the last couple of months to which the new CEO Jonathan Johnson assured, that he is confident to return the retail business to profitable growth and that the Company will continue its blockchain business, now with more momentum. The Company also intends to gear up its dividend share trading and has been making serious arrangements for preparing its digital asset-based dividends.
