Filed under: Management, Insiders, Marketing and advertising
The resignation of a board member at once high-flying skate-shoe manufacturer Heelys (NASDAQ: HLYS) could be a harbinger of a managerial shake-up at the company.
On December 21st, Heelys filed an 8-K announcing that on December 17th, board member James Kindley had resigned in protest to a board resolution “relating to Michael G. Staffaroni’s, the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, handling of certain operational matters”.
In a letter to Staffaroni filed with the 8-K, Kindley explained his resignation:
As you know, I strongly support your vision for the company and your strategy for realizing it. Regrettably, a majority of the directors voted at the November meeting for an ultimatum expressing dissatisfaction with your performance, an action I openly opposed (that is not reflected in the minutes) and one that I feel signals an unjustified lack of confidence in you and your strategy. I’m unable and unwilling to support the majority’s alternatives and directives.
Given that a majority of the board has expressed dissatisfaction with the CEO — and saw fit to hold a vote to formalize that disappointment — his days with the company could be numbered.
Heelys has had a rough time since its IPO. Its stock has fallen from a high of $40.09 to its current price under $6.25, which was accompanied by a slew of shareholder class action lawsuits. A change at the top could be a short-term catalyst for a recovery in the share price and, with the board’s dissatisfaction with the CEO now plastered over an SEC filing, that could come soon.
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