Most shareholders did not and do not get the "philosophy" Of Wave Systems Corporation. Most start up companies are starting by getting funding from the founders, venture capitalists and individuals based on a promising business plan, develop a product which is put on the market, is selling well and then follows an IPO. For Peter Sprague this was too long, uncertain and difficult. He and a number of rather known personalities of high-tech industry(the present BoD) announced a "development stage company for a chip which will own the internet! So the financing was to come exclusively from the shareholders who were clever or stupid enough to see the "potential" guaranteed by "great names"! The product was a complete flop, Peter Sprague and his friends did not loose a cent, the shareholders lost almost everything..
Peter S happened to have two sons, one of them SKS managed to get a BSc and work few years before succeeding his dad as a CEO without the slightest credentials for the job except being a Sprague and cashing almost a million/year for never having one single profitable quarter. The other son got $50 millions funding for the wonderful Wavexpress another complete flop.
And so the story continues: since 12 years SKS promises each quarter the Nirvana, Michale Sprague is getting 250K/Year for another potential complete flop called scrambls, something Wave with its very limited resources and huge losses should have never ever considered and even dad is getting 250K/year for ... making calls. And the shareholders are paying again, their investments being very close to zero. This is a great case study for an MBA course how to misuse the shareholders so they will hardly notice before everything is lost! The SP is at all time low, how much longer will the shareholders accept all this nonsense before there will be nothing more to talk about???
