Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Can you sing Ron's leaving to "The Wicked Witch is Dead?"
I just learned that he had departed. It's too late to save DPDW. He did so much damage to the company and shareholders that in my opinion there is not much left to salvage.
Self-serving is the most positive thing I can say about him. The company was always his province; his thinking never changed after it went public.
so what are the value of the assets listed in the exhibit given to him in exchange for 300 k shares? Auditor had that AUV listed as fully impaired on balance sheet. He did take his truck with him and paid for that so there's no loan in the books. I think the best measure of Smith.s success is the 53 million accumulated deficit in shareholder equity over his tenure so that's more than 4 million/yr loss on avg.
Company is better off without Smith as ceo even after paying severance. He doesn't appear to be dumping his shares although there is another 5% owner as of today.
let's parse that out, shall we?
"Company is better off without Smith as ceo" - no question about that, my mother-in-law could run the company better, both from the start and even today and she died seven years ago
"even after paying severance" WOW, you have no idea what his total severance cost is, do you? a funny little side story is the mystery (to some, but not me) around the question in the conf call about the "certain assets" that Smith walked away with in that deal
DID ANYONE EXCEPT ME notice that the answer TOTALLY AVOIDED any clue about what those assets were???
"He doesn't appear to be dumping his shares" - he can't but Butler could and did sell every share immediately on his exit. Not on the open market, instead it was a sweetheart deal dumping his big blocks for cash from DDI's unrestricted cash (there isn't much left) Warner also could sell, and did sell every share on his exit. same sweetheart deal, cash from DDI's bank balance
Butler and Warner didn't have to sell at the much touted "discount to book value" that DPDW shares trade at. Quite simply, they knew that they would never get a better price, ever.
"there is another 5% owner as of today" Walter Schenker has been a shareholder for a while and he's the one on the conf call always asking about the carousels. He must enjoy losing money and then hearing Ron laugh in his face like it's all a happy joke!
How about looking at the balance sheet after the next Q in Nov before you try to convince yourself that the Golden Parachute for Smith wasn't so bad
Company is better off without Smith as ceo even after paying severance. He doesn't appear to be dumping his shares although there is another 5% owner as of today.
I think everyone can agree that the only way forward is to find a buyer and they will push hard this year do so.
Nope, the most likely path forward in reality is continuation of the same inability to make a profit
Remember this, Ron didn't just lose money in the tough years
He lost money in the biggest boom years for offshore drilling ever! And he lost money in EVERY ONE OF THE OTHER YEARS TOO!
The one blip of positive earnings for a year was only the result of accounting for a HUGE loss one year and getting a partial "refund" on the loss in the next reporting period
Here's my take on what's happening now
Ron is winding it down, ready to exit and enjoy the $millions he has sucked out of DDI and doesn't give a shit about you, me, or any other shareholder
The only reason for shutting down slowly is to not be so obvious and to continue to take home his ABSURD paycheck as long as possible
Ron's exit has a HUGE golden parachute (see employment agreement)- bad news for shareholders
The stock has at least some value and the company has a chance of survival in the near term - good news
The stock has a value of about .15 or less - bad news for shareholders
BOD has control - good news for shareholders
Shareholders still have NO vote on any matters - bad news for shareholders
It's going to be a while before the impact (damage) of the severance on the balance sheet is known
I suspect that Ron will be dumping every share just like Butler did and the severance may even include the company buying him out at a small discount to market and that'll drain just about every dollar they have
I told y'all he was winding it down and sucking every dollar out that he could
I noticed this today from afar. I wonder if it will impact those of you still holding shares. Needless to say, it probably would have been better for long suffering shareholders if Ron had announced his resignation a decade ago. Things just never worked out for this company. Too bad. It wasn't a pleasant experience being a shareholder under Ron's leadership. I'm sure most would agree with me.
Deep Down Announces Leadership Change GlobeNewswire•August 16, 2019 HOUSTON, Aug. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Deep Down, Inc. (DPDW), a specialist in deepwater oil and gas production and distribution equipment and services, announced today it has accepted the resignation of Company founder and CEO, Ronald Smith, effective August 31, 2019, who is leaving to pursue interests outside the oil and gas industry. Charles Njuguna, Deep Down’s CFO, has been appointed to replace Mr. Smith in his role as CEO and as a member of the Board of Directors.
In light of his extensive experience and industry knowledge, Mr. Smith will continue to provide technical guidance in a consulting capacity thru 2021. Deep Down has also commenced a search for a Chief Operating Officer.
Mr. Njuguna joined Deep Down in 2012 to manage the Company’s corporate accounting activities. In 2015 he was appointed Business Manager to oversee all commercial activities and was appointed CFO in 2017. Mr. Njuguna has over 20 years of international business experience, including various operational and financial management roles in the US, UK and Africa. He earned his MBA degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
Mr. Smith commented, “I am extremely proud of the talented team, highly specialized products and solutions, and strong customer base and global reputation that we have built at Deep Down over the past 22 years. I leave my day to day role on a high note, under the disciplined leadership of our highly experienced board and management team led by friend Charles Njuguna. I have great confidence in Deep Down’s potential to deliver significant shareholder returns, and I look forward to collaborating and supporting my investment in Deep Down in any way I can through my ongoing independent consulting work.”
Mark Carden, Deep Down’s Chairman, said: “We are immensely grateful to Ron for his contributions to building Deep Down and its impressive array of deepwater solutions. Charles has proven his skill in driving business efficiency at Deep Down, and we are excited to benefit from his expertise and business discipline in the CEO role.”
What does Deep Down have to offer a buyer? As I understand their business, the company's primary function is that of a welding shop.
I tend to think that Ron and the Boys will continue to keep the doors open as long as they can, perhaps taking salaries and personal benefits into their retirement years.
They killed the company years ago for investors when they took absolute control of Deep Down, virtually eliminating shareholder rights and input.
Ron and his wife are the largest shareholders and clearly don't have a self interest in bankrupting the company. Neither do Douglas or Goldman and they will restrain his bad business instincts. That said they're at a facility paying rent for a space that's at a fraction of capacity and have to grow revenue somehow and organic growth is too slow so a sale of the company is the way forward or it's back to treading water
I think everyone can agree that the only way forward is to find a buyer and they will push hard this year do so.
Nope, the most likely path forward in reality is continuation of the same inability to make a profit
Remember this, Ron didn't just lose money in the tough years
He lost money in the biggest boom years for offshore drilling ever! And he lost money in EVERY ONE OF THE OTHER YEARS TOO!
The one blip of positive earnings for a year was only the result of accounting for a HUGE loss one year and getting a partial "refund" on the loss in the next reporting period
Here's my take on what's happening now
Ron is winding it down, ready to exit and enjoy the $millions he has sucked out of DDI and doesn't give a shit about you, me, or any other shareholder
The only reason for shutting down slowly is to not be so obvious and to continue to take home his ABSURD paycheck as long as possible
Hi Trueheart, I think you're being overly generous in referring to the Panama costs as a "miserable investment"
If I recall correctly, the costs laid out in the SEC filings and narratives were close to a million $$
Of all the miserable investments Ron has made the Panama gambit is the one that stands out for its apparent attempt to self serve personal interests at the expense of shareholders. There exists no reason to establish a Panama "office" nor has management offered something credible.
IIRC, the purchase price was $600K, it was previously owned by an "inner circle" employee who apparently lived there and continued to live there when it was owned by DDI.
Did anyone see ANY rent in the SEC filings? NOPE Did it show up as an asset in SEC filings? NOPE Did the title ever get transferred to DDI? NOPE
THEN, after getting caught and exposed (thanks for the assist Steve Jackson) they "sold" it back and held a IOU for $600K from presumably the same employee who continues living there
Is Deep Down in the sub prime jumbo mortgage business?? Did shareholders see any interest showing up on the SEC filings? NOPE
It appears that it was finally paid back based on their latest filing
I know some of the details of the DDI Ranch fiasco and it STINKS from top to bottom
Then there are a dozen other scandals that have surfaced that lend a lot of credence to the theory that shareholders have been getting SCREWED for YEARS
I'd also say they committed fraud (or at least misrepresented) in their conference calls claiming to be under strict spending controls and "lean and mean" during all of those events
SEC may be closing in
I've got my popcorn and I'm happy to assist the SEC with a road map if they ask
Of all the miserable investments Ron has made the Panama gambit is the one that stands out for its apparent attempt to self serve personal interests at the expense of shareholders.
There exists no reason to establish a Panama "office" nor has management offered something credible.
These 2 are independent directors and have actually paid cash for their shares. I don't know specifics of court case but it's rare to take to a trial and court costs add up quickly
Douglas and Goldman must see some hope or they would have bailed completely
Like the last Chairman of the Board, Butler?
Would be nice if they didn't lose law suits they're involved in.
Yes, but you gotta admit, the legal loss is of trivial amount of damage to the shareholders. The real scandal is the stack of factual evidence presented to the court.
Well he hasn't bankrupted them in over 20 years despite some pretty bad moves. I think this board will restrain him and if they somehow find a buyer he will be replaced. I think everyone can agree that the only way forward is to find a buyer and they will push hard this year do so. Douglas and Goldman must see some hope or they would have bailed completely and it would be selling for a dime. Would be nice if they didn't lose law suits they're involved in.
I added shares for the first time in years in low 70's. I think with this board in place they will make a concerted effort to find a buyer. I think they will reign in Smith's worst spending instincts. If they could sell that roadhouse in Channelview for a profit maybe they can find a buyer looking for spare capacity in Houston.
Yeah, but you gotta admit that chuckling your way through a quarterly conference call when you haven't been profitable in YEARS is just about as TRASHY as you can get
yep, they were really enjoying themselves at shareholders expense
This could be a very good move and help turn the decisions around to the betterment of the shareholders.
April 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Deep Down, Inc. (DPDW), a specialist in deep water oil and gas production and distribution equipment and services, announced today that experienced small cap investors David J. Douglas, Principal of Jamaka Capital Management, LLC, and Neal I. Goldman of Goldman Capital Management, Inc., have been appointed to the Company's Board of Directors. The appointments fill two recent vacancies on the Board, expanding from two to three the number of independent Directors on Deep Down’s four person Board.
Exactly, and just when I thought the BOD meeting (or wherever it happened) when Butler resigned would have been the blowout of the season!
I'm guessing there's a reason behind the unwinding, untangling, disconnection, whatever
besides the obvious, chronic inability to generate a profit coupled with dwindling cash. It doesn't take a genius to see where that is leading pretty soon.
ITEM 5.02. – Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
(b) Resignation of Directors
On April 5, 2019, Ms. Mary L. Budrunas and Mr. Randolph W. Warner each resigned from the board of directors of Deep Down, Inc. (the “Company”), effective immediately.
sheesh, I unsubscribe to every email I get from them and they still send me crap, great IR choice Smith!
(3) Is it anticipated that any significant change in results of operations from the corresponding period for the last fiscal year will be reflected by the earnings statements to be included in the subject report or portion thereof?
Yes [X] NO [_]
If so, attach an explanation of the anticipated change, both narratively and quantitatively, and, if appropriate, state the reasons why a reasonable estimate of the results cannot be made.
It is currently anticipated that the net loss will be significantly higher than the corresponding period for the last fiscal year. Because we have not yet concluded impairment review of our long-lived assets, the results of operations are not yet available.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
AI
