Saying that his count had no jurisdiction over some of the claims being made, a federal judge dismissed a $56 million lawsuit filed by a shareholder against former Kmart Corp. chairman and CEO Charles Conaway.
The suit had been filed by Softbank Technology Ventures, which was a shareholder and an investor to the tune of $56 million in BlueLight.com when Kmart launched the company in 1999.
The company sued Conaway, saying his actions made it impossible for it to sell its shares in a timely and cost-effective fashion. Conaway denied misleading Softbank management.
Softbank’s attorneys said they would refile the suit in a state court, where they said they believed they would have better luck.
The suit had been filed by Softbank Technology Ventures, which was a shareholder and an investor to the tune of $56 million in BlueLight.com when Kmart launched the company in 1999.
The company sued Conaway, saying his actions made it impossible for it to sell its shares in a timely and cost-effective fashion. Conaway denied misleading Softbank management.
Softbank’s attorneys said they would refile the suit in a state court, where they said they believed they would have better luck.
- KC's View:
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Not to pass judgment on this suit or any other, but what strikes us are the extraordinary repercussions of a company and a management that misreads the marketplace and perhaps behaves in a fashion that suggests that they are out of touch with the realities of their own business.
The cost, when it all gets added up, will be billions of dollars. But it also needs to be calculated in terms of people’s lives and human misery, for shareholders and employees and even customers.
One can only hope that they guys who drove this company into the ground aren’t sitting fat and happy somewhere, driving expensive cars and living in expensive houses and waiting for the next opportunity to come up to bat. If it were up to us, there would be no more chances.
