Why is Cliff Fleet still on board (and/or on THE Board)?
The generous answer is that he has a tremendous amount of directly relevant experience; he saw (and still sees) a lot of promise in our VLN product; and the hope was/is that he would open a number of doors for the company in terms of potential strategic partnerships, either with a Big T player or someone else.
The cynical answer is that being on our Board is a cushy, well-paying gig; the Board meets infrequently so he’s not exactly killing himself in terms of effort or hours expended; the Board has minimal accountability; he has very little skin in the game (which is similar to most or all of our other Board members and executives, whose actual share purchases - despite their high salaries - are paltry); and he’s just coasting along.
I don’t know - still hoping our management and Board surprise me. We’re on the brink of being the ONLY combustible cigarette manufacturer in the world with an FDA modified risk label. I still believe that will be attractive to BAT/Altria/Japan T/Korea T etc, pharmaceuticals and pharmacies, and Mr Fleet and the Board and our management should be focused 24/7 on VLN and be out there offering our terms for strategic partnerships. We should be signing up at least one partner NOW, and making the roll-out contingent on MRTP approval. But I’m just a shareholder to whom the Board owes a duty of care...
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