Greg Meyer, you'll recall, is the former managing director of DVDXpress waging a proxy war for a seat at the Blockbuster board in advance of its shareholders meeting downtown next month. CEO Jim Keyes has already said no way no how does he want Meyer on the board, no matter how hard he pushed Blockbuster to go into the kiosk business way back when. This morning, the once-and-fingers-crossed-future video rental giant reiterates its position and then some.
Blockbuster has sent to shareholders its white proxy card filled in which the current board not only lists the company-approved board candidates, but also ticks off the myriad reasons why Meyer should most definitely not be elected. Such as: He's "currently an unemployed consultant [with] very limited experience." And: He's amount to little more than " a distraction to management." And: "Meyer's behavior has been threatening, amateurish and reflects an unwillingness to play by the rules." Don't mince words, Bones, what do you really think?
You should also be aware that, in an effort to avoid this proxy contest, Meyer was offered a role as a consultant to Blockbuster. Meyer quickly rejected that proposal, choosing rather to proceed with an ill-conceived proxy contest which will be costly to both Blockbuster and its stockholders. In fact, despite his criticism of what he calls unnecessary expenses incurred by the company to respond to the contest he initiated, Meyer has confirmed that he intends to bill Blockbuster for his proxy contest expenses should he be elected. ... There could not be a worse time in your company's history to gamble on an unknown -- an unknown whose inexperience, demonstrated lack of understanding of our business and alarming behavior pose a risk to our ability to overcome our current challenges and thrive in the future.