Overstock.com Attacked by Sith Lord

Undoubtedly, most of the American public has viewed the television advertising campaign of Overstock.com, featuring the absolutely pleasant Sabine Ehrenfel (right). One would naturally assume that the media exposure would produce handsome sales for Overstock. Well, apparently, that's not the case.

From The Register:

Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne continues to break new ground as the head of a publicly traded company. In a single TV interview last week, he shocked investors by revealing that holiday sales were far below expectations, perplexed the financial crowd by talking about drugs and dead bodies being found in his trunk and initiated a verbal war with billionaire blogger Mark Cuban.

Now, disappointing sales figures can usually be dealt with rationally by changing the method of operation. Customers have noticed flaws. These have included the failure to effectively track orders, an unresponsive customer service system, and periodic web site outages. But fixing the administrative weaknesses won't do anything to address the problem of having a screwy CEO in Patrick Byrne.

This latest round of gaffes adds to a tradition for Byrne that includes admitting that he lied about being gay and a coke-head to financial analysts and initiating a program to uncover a "Sith Lord" seeking to ruin Overstock.

Yes, a Sith Lord is leading a mysterious group of short-sellers in a conspiracy engineered to cripple Overstock. Byrne claims the Sith Lord will use the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) to get him.

"Some of the officials are monsters. You'll probably read a headline that I was stopped with drugs or a dead body."

First, it's probably not a good idea to talk trash about the FCC and the DoJ. It might aggravate them into looking at your operation, with or without the Sith Lord's input.

Secondly, Patrick Byrne is obviously paranoid which could be the result of his alleged cocaine use. Don't be surprised if we hear about black helicopters next.

As a result of Overstock.com not meeting expectations, coupled with having a wacko leader, investors are shying away. Within the past year, Overstock share value has plunged from over $70 to under $30 and there's no expectation that the trend will change. Patrick Byrne will likely continue to defend Overstock from the Sith Lord while the Chairman of Overstock, daddy John Byrne, watches.

Tipped by the Cracker Barrel Philosopher.

For more on the pulchritudinous Sabine Ehrenfel, Digger has a profile.