I share your concerns, but I don't think there's much hidden in Brent Johnson's motives. It seems pretty straight up to me. He's after money.
There's nothing wrong with that. Most of us are motivated by it, one way or another.
A key distinction as far as I'm concerned is this one: you can earn money with the shareholders, or you can earn money from the shareholders. Since he's had zero success on the first, I think he's flat-out chosen the second.
There's a figurative set of scales that Brent is using to guide his actions. On the left side, he has a pile of money representing how much salary, fees, etc. he thinks he can draw from MSX before bankruptcy. On the right side, he has a pile representing what he thinks he can earn as a major shareholder if he gets out of the way and lets someone else lead the company. It should scare the hell out of everyone who's invested that Brent, with access to more information than any of us, judges the left side as more lucrative.
