Overstock CEO steps down in wake of 'deep state' comments
The founder and CEO of Overstock.com, Patrick Byrne, resigned today after news of his romantic involvement with an infamous Russian agent and controversial comments about the "Deep State" left the e-commerce company reeling.
"While I believe that I did what was necessary for the good of the country, for the good of the firm, I am in the sad position of having to sever ties with Overstock, both as CEO and board member," Byrne said in a statement.
Jonathan Johnson, a longtime employee and board member, will step in as interim CEO.
Overstock shares ticked up on the stock market following today's announcement, after having nosedived last week in the wake of the revelations about Byrne and a cryptic and confusing statement he put out to address them.
In an Aug. 12 press release entitled, "Overstock.com CEO Comments on Deep State, Withholds Further Comment," Byrne confirmed media reports that he engaged in a three-year relationship with Maria Butina, now serving an 18-month prison sentence for infiltrating conservative political circles on the Russian government's behalf without registering with U.S. authorities.
Byrne claimed to be involved in the U.S. government's investigations into the 2016 president election. Byrne said he began helping "Men in Black" in 2015 with investigating Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Russian election meddling. Those investigations "turned out to be less about law enforcement and more about political espionage conducted against Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump (and to a lesser degree, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz)," Byrne said.
