One last post from me regarding the BOD . . . just so everyone is clear on my personal position and approach.
I think a “shareholder coup” or a “throw the bums out” approach is the WRONG approach. Wrong in all senses of the word, i.e. it won’t accomplish what shareholders hope for, it is wrong in spirit, and in fact given the real details of where we are and how we got here (not completely known by everyone.)
If it wasn’t for Greg Chapin and Les Price, JJ would have folded up shop a long time ago and we would have nothing. Also if Greg didn’t open his checkbook, same thing. Needless to say there will be various levels of disagreement on that or people will point out that none of this was done without compensation, etc.
Can we all agree that everyone of us would have handled things differently? I assume that’s the case because we are all unique. But we also can agree that not everyone would have agreed with the particular way “we” would have handled things. Everyone is of their own mind. Current management and BOD did the best they could or knew how given the circumstances. And what’s done is done. Let’s move on.
Here is my approach. Generally speaking I see 3 constituencies.
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The current BOD, insiders, and management friendlies.
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AMC (210 million shares) and their friends and families and affiliates.
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The public shareholder base who get most of their information from theminingplay.com and aurynblog.com.
Those aren’t hard lines as some people consider themselves in more than one of these constituencies.
Right now we have Greg Chapin, and two other board members (Gary Goodin and Vittal Karra) who were selected by Greg Chapin and Les Price.
I think once this deal closes a better makeup of the board of directors would be one member selected by each constituency. That board needs to work to make sure all debts are settled appropriately under reasonable terms with the least cost possible to shareholder equity. That board should select a representative to sit on the board of AMC so that MDMN has representation with AMC given its 25% stake. Then the board needs to work toward the following:
i. Lean management structure
ii. Low cost operation
iii. Limited dilution
iv. Payment of dividends mandatory
Then we can really be an efficient, trusted holding company, that distributes profits accordingly . . . a company that everyone has confidence in and we can move forward with a win for all and leave the past in the past.