When Organics Go Bad: Eco-Capitalism at Its Worst
Living green is about harmony.
Harmony with our environment, nature, our bodies, ourselves, each other, and more.
Unfortunately, like most good things in this physical life, it becomes corrupt.
One such occurrence is when Whole Foods Market CEO, John Mackey, made anonymous attacks on rival Wild Oats Market, then tried to buy it!
Brittney Gilbert, Nashville, TN blog innovator, posted a quick snippet about this yesterday.
How have I not heard of this yet?
She sites a story from NPR on the Associated Press' report on the finding.
The AP story reports:
"In February, Whole Foods announced it would buy Wild Oats for about $565 million, or $18.50 per share.The company acknowledged that the postings by "rahodeb" were written by chief executive John Mackey.
They were made public this week as part of a lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission to block Whole Foods from buying Wild Oats on antitrust grounds. Regulators say the sale would combine the two largest organic and natural foods retailers and raise prices for consumers by concentrating too much power in one company."
I ask the same question as Brittney; do you think Mackey will go to jail?
The corporate atmosphere must have gotten to him. I think they ended up purchasing Wild Oats.
Mr. Mackey�s conduct may have been stupid and boorish but can hardly be illegal. It is hard to imagine any reasonable investor would rely to his/her detriment on the comments of an obviously anonymous blogger in an on-line forum. The nature of the comments contains no great analysis or insight, much less insider information. Any diminution in the value of Whole Foods Market�s stock could only be caused by a momentary loss of confidence in its CEO; the fundamentals of the company and its universally recognized reformation of the grocery business remain unchanged and will sustain the company in the short and long run. Although I live in Austin, I have never met Mr. Mackey and don�t have investments in his or any related business. I am a shopper at the store with the top products, beyond any reasonable argument.
I hope the Wild Oats buy out does not happen.
I was really looking forward to some competitive price wars between Wild Oats and Whole Foods on Hillsboro Road.
Perhaps we'll get a Trader Joe's sometime instead?