"Carpenter must have been thinking this for a long time"- yes, back in Sept, 2003, he wrote:
"To take the company to the next level, we encourage management to add to its depth by adding a well-connected wireless industry veteran or two. Executives who could bring a wealth of contacts with the original equipment manufacturers and wireless carriers would be especially welcome. We believe this would enhance the firm’s image and could open new doors on the licensee front. Although IDCC has 3G deals with NEC and Sharp, other major OEMs are noticeably absent.
In our opinion, the addition of one or more wireless industry veterans could change this. In fact, we suggest the veteran start at the top: in the roll of Chairman of the Board. InterDigital’s current Chairman is a garment industry entrepreneur and does not appear to us to have a substantial day-to-day role with the company.
Yet, the individual has a combined one million shares and options. This is more than double the number of the President of IDCC, more than five times the number of the Chief Financial Officer, and approximately four times the number of IDCC’s head of licensing.
Also, he has sold three times the number of shares in 2003 as any other officer or board member of InterDigital. While the Chairman has been at IDCC a long time, he is also one of the two members of the compensation committee. We believe InterDigital would be better served by having a wireless industry veteran in the Chairperson role.
Someone that brings a wealth of OEMs relationships to the position and could travel and meet with OEMs to enhance IDCC’s profile in the industry could add immense value to InterDigital, in our opinion. Quite possibly, the person could also help IDCC unlock the value of its strong patent portfolio, which could translate into a much higher share price."
TC is merely, and rightfully, and accurately IMO, assessing management competence and policies in his analysis of IDCC's fundamentals. As long term investors in IDCC, we should all be concerned about the fundamentals of this company, and management competence is certainly a key fundamental issue.
MO,
Corp_Buyer
