When Bill Solms made such aggressively optimistic statements as he did, not a single one of which came true--what did the BoD do? They awarded Solms a pretty good bonus.
For what was that bonus based upon? How convincingly he lied boldfacedly to the shareholders at every juncture until the clock ran out and the game was up? Wasn't based on performance, so I agree, shareholders have every reason to suspect the Board if not in on it, at the very least failed to exercise proper governance.
The Board was either complicit which perhaps constitutes criminal fraud, or woefully ignorant of what was going on. But in the end, they richly rewarded the man who lied his butt off, just as they piled half-his salary bonuses on SKS for 10 years, in addition to giving him shares and warrants, golden parachutes of $1M, --all Board approved.
Wave shareholders have been screwed for a long time. In the 20 years I was invested and/or following Wave, I never once saw mgt do the smallest gesture towards the shareholders feeling so much pain for so long--other than give them words--never deeds.
It was plain to me they not only didn't care, but regarded the shareholders as nothing more than suckers to be bamboozled out of every penny possible, as often as possible.
In all that time, the Wave dreams got bigger, the tone more tense and the gap between what was claimed for Wave and reality, was rapidly widening--as was the penalty for dissent.
The explanations for non-performance were implausible, while the soaring claims were impossible. Fantasy and fiction took over, along with a relentless connection of nothings, or nothing with nothing that somehow proved Wave was about to rule the world.
Again and again goals were missed, forecasts were proved dismally off the mark, performance went backward and one opportunity after another somehow slipped through Wave's fingers. Wave lost Dell--a contract the company had, providing a major source of its revenue.
GM didn't re-sign. Company did not announce because they didn't have to.
Wave and Bill Solms banked it all on Wave's VSC 2.0 and it came up snake-eyes, just like most of the other Wave gambles. Meanwhile the shareholders paid the bills for plain ineptness, again and again.
It was embarrassing--the auditor catches the CEO being overpaid by $70K--Wave doesn't do due diligence on a major purchase [Safend] and misses $4M in royalties and had to restate the acquisition and later write it all off.
A Wave CC cancelled minutes before it began because Wave had to restate, again.
Delisting, constant threats of delisting. Three reverse splits: supporters were told the first two didn't matter and the third was necessary to save the company--only they weren't told that by the company, but by their leaders. The company was all mummsy-quiet.
Founders Shares, Employee Options Plan I (exempted them from the 1:3 reverse split all us shareholders were subjected to.)
Embarrassing was the only word. It was a shambles of a company kept afloat by distant dreams of riches--stay patient, don't worry about the plunging share price--when the world learns of Wave--look out!
Such a familiar pitch, brilliantly executed with a lot of help. It was a fraud, masquerading as a publicly-traded NASDAQ company--a company never once making a profit in 27 years of existence--always living on the fumes of promises of great riches to come. It was a masterful con job. Half a billion bucks in someone's pocket.
Through it all, the Wave Board of Directors approved it all, or at least raised no objection until Steven was fired. But it was already fait accompli--too late to save Wave--the dice had been cast and the familiar snake-eyes was coming up because Wave could never sell enough of its product to operate.
The fiction of first mover, flag planter, leader in the space--it was all hogwash--a PR inflated hot-air bag full of nothing. Wave was a nobody, despite plenty of media attention, publicity stunts, bought 'analysts' and phony profitability forecasts were all weighing down Wave and pulling it towards a crash.
All the helpful DD was complete bologna. It was mass delusion of made-up things spun for and by a group wanting desperately to see Wave make it--to stop the laughter and mockery of those who said Wave was full of it.
It is a tragedy playing out on another board, of dreams dying or already dead, of no retirement, nothing for the kids, a million lost here, a half million there--it is a litany of sadness, people crushed.
For many, their only crime was to believe in a company. That company if properly managed, could have better used the half billion bucks it burned through so thoughtlessly and wastefully.
Then there was the bloody end, sudden, but not unexpected. Wave was gone. Bang, it was over.
Blue
