Very interesting. I look forward to reading more about this.
Very interesting. I look forward to reading more about this.
That they were able to keep a complete fraud of a company going, kept racking up taxes owed but not paid, let millions in debts... There were lots of people who were complicit in them creating this false front of a legitimate company, including the local media.
I'll have much, much more on all of this.
Looks like the DOK was quite the TEEMCO cheerleader back in the day:
http://newsok.com/article/3916659
http://newsok.com/article/4084146
I think the Oklahoman STILL believes this is just a temporary setback, soon to blow over.
What makes you think that?
When people see the dollar values of those sponsorships and how they basically paid these groups next to nothing and they still allowed the company to big-dog it with their advertising, suites and even going down on the field of the OU/OSU game to present the Bedlam trophy with their logo all over it... It will shock many.
It also raises some big questions, chiefly: What other scams and frauds are going on right now? And: How would anyone in town know if something really bad was going down (basically everyone I talked to has said, "We wouldn't know").
I have all the financial records, all the contracts, all the details. Have been waiting for this to go to court so as not to jeopardize the cases. As I said, it's nothing short of shocking on many levels and most of it isn't due to TEEMCO but with the various high-profile organizations which continued to enable them long after they knew there were big problems.
^^^^^^
Pete, after many conversations on this topic here and in person I know that you see an even darker underlying streak to stories like this, but I will definitely agree that OKC is in many ways vulnerable to hucksterism and abuse due to our cultural tendencies toward trusting people, toward being outwardly polite, and also to being charmed by slick, self-assured "music men" (if someone is too young to get this reference I'd hope they might look up the movie The Music Man. Other examples of this were Oesman Sapta, the Indonesian business,am who came to OKC and swept everyone off of their feet with promises to revive the defunct and shuttered Skirvin, and the parade of out-of-staters who promised the same for FNC. There are other examples, including in Bricktown.
Point being, as we get bigger and appear on the radar more nationally and internationally - and in the era of business incentives and other pro-business policies plus a generally warm and optimistic pro-business environment - we are likely to see even more con men try to get rich using subterfuge. As a community obviously we need to be more vigilant.
*cough* tomward *cough*
So what are you accusing Tom Ward of? I know it is an internet board to hide behind, but instead of snarky insinuations, just have the courage to come out and cite what you KNOW. Pete cites facts and witnesses and doesn’t just throw out personal accusations. So, do you KNOW things, and if so, what do you KNOW? Remember, rumors, suspicions, conspiracy theories don’t count as facts.
The guy was run out of his own company, and I'm making "insinuations." A lot of folks put their trust in him and lost a lot of hard-earned money. Google it yourself. Several major financial publications did write-ups on what was going on over there.
As you suggested, I did Google it, and I'm not sure to what, exactly, you might be referring. Run out of his own company, do you mean Chesapeake, SandRidge, or Tapstone? I would guess you probably mean SandRIdge, in which case, Google it yourself. That was without cause, which got him $90 million. And if you do indeed mean SandRidge, while you're Googling see if you can tell us how it worked out for them. You can start the search here.
You've put me in the awkward position of having to agree with Rover...if you have something to say, then say it.
It’s just that it is very easy to smear people and I think it is reckless unless one has specific and verifiable information the public should know. Often it is just rumors or gossip from others with differing agendas. There are usually more than one perspective with every controversy, so the most public story isn’t always the true story. It is easy to publicly demean someone but harder to take it back when you discover it is wrong.
Interesting take. Threw in a poison pill, TPG Axon, etc said 'f' it, and he got one last giant bag of money for himself on the way out while the shareholders (myself included) got hosed. And yes... I do know how it ended. They went bankrupt. How those involved with the takeover didn't see that coming is beyond me.
Here's a glimpse into what was going on (wrapped in an opinion piece, I know). Or you can dig up the TPG-Axon presentation from the time, or any of the other articles (There were a few).
https://www.forbes.com/sites/richard.../#75a5d85b314f
The information is out there - Ludicrous compensation, family-dealing, wasteful spending, lack of fiduciary duty and a subservient board more than willing to let it all happen. Sure, oil & gas took a hit and the Mississippian had some unfortunate setbacks, but this went way beyond that.
And I know, Rover. These guys are always getting "smeared" in the name of one "agenda" or another. It is awful.
About 8-9 years ago, I took a huge gamble and lost about half of my life savings on a single stock. It was my first significant loss in the market and it happened to be with an oil and gas company. At the time, I was looking for someone to blame and be angry at. Over the next few years, I got over it and understood that it was no ones fault but mine. I wanted to gamble and knew the risks involved when it comes to the market.
The money I lost was like 2 grand and it was a long time ago - small price for the lesson learned. I only mentioned it in full disclosure and consider myself fully responsible for not performing the proper due dilligence.
On the other hand, you're basically making my point for me. More people in Oklahoma should be aware of what went on at Sandridge back then. I'll leave it at that.
I had a small amount of SR stock and got to see all the accusations made from bigger shareholders. Ward was self dealing, grifting, and conflicting of interest as soon as they went public. SR was one of the biggest advertisers with the Thunder (which Ward also owned part of), sold his free owner tickets back to SR, and thats on top of the numerous season tickets SR bought that he and family used. Super generous and over use of corporate jet, he might have even had SR buy one, cant remember. Lots of other crazy allegations that I cant remember.
This was on top of a SR employee telling me that they worked on SR land work and Ward and sons personal land work, all while as SR employee. Ward and sons were also working and dealing in same oil plays as SR, and sometimes flipping deals to SR.
^
All that regarding Ward is strikingly similar to what Reuters uncovered in their investigation of Aubrey McClendon which in turn led to a shareholder revolt and ultimately his ouster.
I'm not involved with any of this at all, in any way. The literal definition of third party with no skin in the game. I'm curious though if this is true how his termination was found (twice, as far as I can tell) to be without cause, because to me this is pretty damn clear evidence of embezzlement at the very least.
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