Overstock Suffers Loses After CEO’s Deep State Statements

Overstock Chief Executive Officer Patrick Byrne’s inexplicable comments about “the deep state” and his claims that he was a part of federal investigations related to the 2016 election has sent the online retailer’s stocks tumbling for the third day in a row. Over It Byrne released a statement titled “Overstock.com CEO Comments on Deep State” in which he says he helped law enforcement agents, whom he called the “Men in Black,” with their “Clinton Investigation” and “Russia Investigation,” referring to the investigations of whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election. The statement was in response to articles on the website of Fox News contributor Sara Carter. The Spy Who Loved Me Byrne admitted he was romantically involved with Maria Butina, who is now serving 18 months in prison after being accused by federal prosecutors of attempting to infiltrate political circles in the United States at the direction of the Russian government. Byrne claims that government officials instructed him on how to interact with her, and that he had previously cooperated with government investigations into the murder of a friend as well as what he refers to as a “shake up” of Wall Street from a decade ago. Stock It To Me Overstock had a strong second quarter earnings call last week, but that was all erased by the 36% drop the company has faced since Byrne’s statement was released on Monday. Byrne Unit Byrne is known as a free spirit, prone to strange sayings and behavior, including comparing Overstock’s cryptocurrency ambitions to Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine and has joked that the Securities and Exchange Commission should just move into the Overstock’s office space while it investigates Byrne’s upcoming tZero push blockchain project. The rapid drop in Overstock’s stock is being seen as yet more proof that even when a company is doing well, a CEO’s behavior can hurt their bottom line. Heck, just ask Elon Musk. -Michael Tedder Photo via Overstock.com