Dr. Patrick Byrne sent TheSanityCheck an audio file of a call he received yesterday, from celebrated reporter Roddy Boyd, of the NY Post. Patrick indicated that he thought it would be interesting for the average non-CEO to have a sampling of what sort of treatment they could expect from the press should they ever build a billion dollar business, and make their telephone numbers available to the media.
In this remarkable peek into the way that the media interacts with captains of industry, Roddy is heard inquiring as to why Patrick lied to him - after declaring conversationally that Patrick is frequently dishonest on a range of heretofore undisclosed things.
Patrick’s faux pas? To answer Roddy’s question as to OSTK’s cash position directly, by telling him how much cash/cash equivalent instruments OSTK had.
Now, apparently, Roddy didn’t actually want to know what the cash position was; rather, he wanted to know what the cash position was, minus accounts payable over the next 90 days.
But best as one can make out, that isn’t what he asked for, per the message he left, and per Byrne – he asked for cash, which is what Byrne gave him.
Now, does it seem a trifle unusual for an unbiased NY reporter to be leaving messages on a CEO’s machine asking why he is a liar (in this instance) – and evincing the “unbiased” reporterly opinion that Patrick is frequently dishonest, but that his question is about this PARTICULAR lie? This, after ribbing Patrick for calling him a "compliant lackey", and noting that was probably better than what Patrick had called Bethany – although in fairness to Roddy, he does say, “if the shoe fits”.
Doesn't that seem odd? Is that the way all reporters pose questions to CEOs of large publicly traded companies, do you think? Patrick passed it on to be aired for all to wonder at, so, well, without further ado, here is the MP3 version of the audio clip.
The management of TheSanityCheck.com has no opinion as to how it is appropriate to address CEOs, whether or not the journalistic norm is to call them liars, or really anything else about this - some things just speak for themselves.