Walker undone

Tom Lehman TLehman at lor.net
Wed Nov 22 17:49:32 PST 2000


Incredible. You could buy LTV steel, Wheeling Pitt steel and National steel with all kinds of extras thrown into the deal and cash left over for the kind of money that this story talks about.

Tom

Doug Henwood wrote:


> WSJ.com - November 22, 2000
>
> Walker Digital Lays Off Most of Headquarters Staff
>
> By STEPHANIE MILES
> WSJ.COM
>
> Walker Digital Inc. has laid off most of its headquarters staff in a
> drastic restructuring, the latest setback for Jay Walker, the founder of
> Priceline.com Inc.
>
> Walker Digital was conceived in 1995 by Mr. Walker as an intellectual
> property laboratory and Internet business incubator, and is responsible
> for developing the name-your-price technology that Priceline.com uses.
>
> On Tuesday, the closely held company laid off at least 100 out of 125
> employees at its Stamford, Conn., headquarters, according to a spokesman
> for Mr. Walker.
>
> Walker Digital also is shutting down three early stage start-ups, which
> are located in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Atlanta. The remaining 200
> Walker Digital employees include a skeleton staff in Stamford, and
> workers at Retail DNA Inc. and Skill Games Inc., two Walker Digital
> companies.
>
> "After extensive internal review, Walker Digital is restructuring its
> headquarters staff," said Kevin Goldman, spokesman for Mr. Walker.
>
> Mr. Goldman emphasized that Walker Digital isn't shutting down
> operations, but will instead focus specifically on its invention
> laboratory and the licensing of its intellectual property portfolio. The
> company holds about 50 patents and has 300 patents pending.
>
> Some employees laid off this week said executives told them that the
> company is indeed winding down operations.
>
> Mr. Goldman, speaking for Mr. Walker, vigorously disputed that
> assertion. "We're not shutting down," he said.
>
> Laid-off employees also said they were offered no severance pay or
> continuing health insurance, although Mr. Goldman said that after
> considering the logistics of the issue, Walker Digital will in fact
> offer some type of severance.
>
> The layoffs come after Walker Digital's latest round of funding fell
> through this week. The company had raised $200 million from investors,
> which include venture-capital firm General Atlantic Partners, according
> to the company's Web site. General Atlantic declined to comment on the
> status of its relationship with Walker Digital.
>
> Mr. Walker, meanwhile, has seen Priceline's shares plummet from a
> 52-week high of $105 in March to a 52-week low of $2.21 this week.
>
> In the last few weeks, Priceline has lost both Chief Financial Officer
> Heidi Miller and the head of its auto-services business, Maryann Keller.
>
> Priceline announced layoffs when it released third-quarter earnings
> earlier this month. In October, Priceline shut down its name-your-price
> grocery business, Priceline Webhouse Club, which had burned through $363
> million in funding.



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