The CEO of Overstock, an online home goods retailer, stepped down from his post after serving for 2 decades. He gave his reason for stepping down as ‘He was already too controversial to serve as the CEO at Overstock.’
He believed that his staying as the CEO could affect the company’s reputation and could cause havoc on the sales and profits.
His resignation letter read as “Coming forward publicly about my involvement in other matters was hardly my first choice. I now plan on leaving things to the esteemed Department of Justice (which I have doubtless already angered enough by going public) and disappearing for some time.” He had revealed earlier that he had helped the FBI in carrying out the political espionage.
Allison Abraham, the overstock board’s chairman commented on his resignation that, “We respect and understand Patrick’s reasons for resigning and acknowledge his momentous achievement in taking Overstock from a startup twenty years ago to one of the nation’s leading online retailers and positioning it at the forefront of the blockchain revolution.”
The CEO even revealed that he had romanced an alleged Russian agent, Maria Butina from 2015-2018, a significant time duration.
After all these scandals, Byrne decided to step down from his post as a CEO as he thought it was best for the future of the company.
Byrne has worked hard all these years to take the company to great heights. Now, the question arises, will his stepping down as the CEO affect the company in a bad way?
This question can only be answered with time. For now, the replacement of Byrne will be done by an interim CEO. The position will be filled by the president of the Medici Ventures, Jonathon Johnson. Medici Ventures is a company owned by Overstock.
On Jonathon’s entry as the interim CEO, Byrne praised him. Jonathan stated that “I am confident Overstock’s future both in retail and blockchain is bright.”
