Chess board laid, page-300

Did you struggle at school, gekko?

Who said anything about not trying? Of course people want the company to succeed and the share price to increase, particularly perhaps the directors (as an aside, how many of their shares did they pay for - I paid market price for mine?). Ordinary shareholders didn't steer the ship onto the rocks and they're not the ones expecting to keep getting paid while it's still sitting on them, now asking to be paid more when a big wave they think they've spotted (but might be an illusion) comes along to refloat the ship (assuming it hasn't been too badly holed).

The point I was making is there's no downside for them in agreeing to take future increases based on the performance of the company and its share price because if it gets any worse they'll be out of a job, either because the company will have to radically alter its gearing, it will get taken out by people who know better how to run a business properly or shareholders finally wake up to the fact that leopards seldom change their spots and AG and others aren't the right people for the task.

There's another possibility which is that AG might do the decent thing and resign but I think we'll be waiting a long time for that to happen.

I want the company to succeed as much as the next investor - I have simply formed views on how this is most likely to happen that are different to most others. It doesn't make me the enemy unless you're one of those people who believes this discussion forum should just be a fan club - which is practically what it has become of late. No doubt AG and co enjoy reading the many posts praising his consummate business skills and learning most people don't blame him for burning a $1bn hole in the accounts. It was someone else's fault.