[governance] FW: [article] Did ISOC leave $1 billion on the table?

Mon Dec 2 17:24:11 EST 2019

Agreed with Ayden here. The fact that some are arguing that the monetary
value doesn't reflect the real market value of the asset is a further
reflection of the apparent failure of ISOC to do its due diligence and its
unusually hurried and non consultative approach to this sale. It also goes
to the heart of this most unusual sale -- if money was their main aim,
why wouldn't they get the best price for it?

One other thing. I think it is important to note that whatever value is
ascribed to the asset be a fair price, after all, as was pointed out by my
colleague Peter Micek, the value of .org is co--created by those who reside
on .org ie us. We all helped create that value and to have it sold
improperly and at fire-sale prices is both disrespecting the value of .org
and its registrants.

Having said that, I agree it doesn't need to be a main argument or even
included :)

Brett

PS The actual article (
https://lancewiggs.com/2019/12/01/did-isoc-leave-1-billion-on-the-table/)
regardless is still worth reading.

Brett Solomon
Executive Director
Access Now | accessnow.org

@solomonbrett
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Brett Solomon
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On Mon, Dec 2, 2019 at 5:02 PM Ayden Férdeline <ayden at ferdeline.com> wrote:

> Stephanie, Milton-
>
> That is a good point and I agree we do not need to refer to this piece in
> any of our contributions on this topic.
>
> I shared it because it appears that ISOC was prepared to sell PIR for less
> than it was worth.
>
> There may have been impact investors with a billion dollars - and a proven
> track record of doing good - that would have been willing to buy PIR and to
> let it continue to operate in the public interest, generating more modest
> returns, as they have other investments able to cover their needs/targets.
>
> Instead, ISOC has proposed to sell PIR to a shell company with no track
> record of doing just that.
>
> ISOC's CEO said last Friday, "This is a large amount of money that came to
> us unexpectedly. We were not looking for this. The buyer came to us and
> proposed a very large transaction. We concluded that that would provide us
> with a fund that we could then invest as an endowment."
>
> That, to me, sounds like inadequate due diligence, particularly in the
> absence of additional information about what other bids were sought. If
> ISOC had received multiple bids, and sold PIR to an ethical investor for a
> reduced price, that would perhaps be justifiable. But given the facts we
> currently have available, we can only ponder what the pitch was that Ethos
> Capital had to attract its three Republican billionaire investors.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Ayden Férdeline
>
>
>
> ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
> On Monday, 2 December 2019 22:37, Stephanie Perrin <
> stephanie.perrin at mail.utoronto.ca> wrote:
>
> All of the recent entrails examination is interesting, but I do agree with
> Milton here...we cannot complain about commercialization and then say by
> the way, that was not a high enough price.  So better not to refer to this
> analysis in anything we write.
>
> It is fair to question whether this was a good process, but the line is
> thin and we don't want to cross it.
>
> cheers
>
> Stephanie Perrin
> On 2019-12-02 16:10, Mueller, Milton L wrote:
>
>
>
> I think the analysis in this piece is rubbish.
>
> It assumes e.g. a leveraged buyout using borrowed money.
>
> But set that aside for the moment.
>
>
>
> It is inconsistent to jump up and down and scream that the sale of .org
> constitutes a horrible commercialization of the internet, and then turn
> around and complain that ISOC didn’t get enough capital for it.
>
> What exactly is our goal in raising a stink about this sale? Is just to
> make noise? Is it to get a higher price for ISOC? Or is it to get better
> protections for .ORG registrants? I hope it’s the latter.
>
>
>
> Dr. Milton L Mueller
>
> School of Public Policy
>
> Georgia Institute of Technology
>
> [image: IGP_logo_gold block_email sig]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* governance-request at lists.riseup.net <
> governance-request at lists.riseup.net> *On Behalf Of *Ayden Férdeline
> *Sent:* Monday, December 2, 2019 3:42 AM
> *To:* governance <governance at lists.riseup.net>
> *Subject:* [governance] [article] Did ISOC leave $1 billion on the table?
>
>
>
> A venture capitalist and ex-Mckinsey consultant offers some thoughts on
> the ISOC sale of PIR, and concludes that ISOC has undervalued PIR by about
> US $1 billion. This analysis is not perfect (it seems to conflate revenue
> with earnings) but is interesting nonetheless:
>
>
>
> https://lancewiggs.com/2019/12/01/did-isoc-leave-1-billion-on-the-table/
>
>
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Ayden Férdeline
>
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