Overstock
announced today that it has filed a
lawsuit in the Superior
Court of California, County of San Francisco against Morgan Stanley & Co.
Incorporated, Goldman Sachs & Co., Bear Stearns Companies, Inc., Bank of
America Securities LLC, Bank of New York, Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse (USA)
Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith,
Inc., UBS Financial Services, Inc., and others and is seeking damages of $3.48 billion.
The suit accuses the defendants of violations of California securities
laws and common law, and California's Unfair Business Practices Act.
OSTK's chief windmill tilter Patrick Byrne says, "I have a fiduciary duty to defend the company. These manipulative
activities have caused tremendous damage to Overstock. I believe that this
conduct is harming our company and our shareholders deeply, and that investors
have been failed by those who have a duty protect them. The best way to
address and solve the problem is to get it in front of a jury of
12 Californians."
Not mentioned in the press release is the apparent legal mastermind behind this, billionaire Texas attorney John O'Quinn. He is also assisting OSTK's 2005 suit against Rocker Partners, et al. If you liked Boise, you'll love O'Quinn.
Cynics will question the timing of the lawsuits as OSTK's 4th quarter earnings announcement and conference call are scheduled for Monday.
Words of encouragement for Pat can be passed on in IV's OSTK forum, where he goes by the name of Hannibal.