offshoredrillin

Bill, here is what people should recognize. first off many people think that I hate Reggie, I don't. I fully comprehend and acknowledge his contributions to the sport. I am not nor will I ever be a fan of marketing lies, in and industry/sport seemingly based on lies it is time to move away from that mold.

Compare Reggie to Brett Favre there are only so many finite times that one can say one thing and do another. Is it time for him to leave and enjoy life after fountain, being as he financially no longer owns the company, I say yes. Being as the bean counters failed to have a non compete in place before they allowed him back in, who is to say that he isn't taking the time honored tradition of having himself get escorted out with no non compete in order to become a small custom builder using his own name? After all the debts went with the company and he can walk away free and clear. There are many scenarios which can play out in this, more than likely though it will mean more litigation as corporate will sue him if he leaves, it doesnt make it right, it makes it business. He has been on both sides and knows the game. I will sit back and watch it unfold, the press releases from this are no different than with big government, timed to be let out to give each side an advantage.

Catastrophe

Bill

Give me your impression, respect your viewpoint.

COMPLETELY HYPOTHETICAL

Reggie goes away...no fight.

He starts Fountain #2

Complete straight up new company. No splash of Fountain molds... no trickery....no cheating or accusations of misdeeds.

He takes a couple of his tech guys, has a good shop and uses Merc Power and same quality of drives guages interiors etc.

The new company is known to be well financed and will be around in the future.

WHO WILL THE PUBLIC BUY FROM ???

Reggie or the Beancounters ?

Mastercraft240

Let's not forget who the CEO is now.., Bill Gates. He's not your average Joe with some money to blow. Gates once said ( and my father often reminds me), the key to success is to surround yourself with people smarter than yourself. I'm sure Fountain will be fine. Better alive than completely run into the ground.

Expensive Date

And then Reggie buys his old building from the bank after they foreclose on it.

We should all call up today to order new Fountains ask for Reggie and when they say he is not there say we will wait till he gets back.

X-Driver

Reggie or the Beancounters??

That is a good point but who in their right business mind would back Reggie financially or invest in the boating industry right now?

Catastrophe

Who ??

Firstly anyone in their right business mind isnt in the boat builing industry. ( A joke...tongue in cheek ), But there are still folks that love the sport enough to play the game and there are those with enough cash that given a hint of chance of breaking even they may do so.

Currently we have some individuals throwing an absolute ton of money to develop a unique boat to break a speed record. Dont see them stopping.
We have a team of enthusiasts that have developed a new design that has a cushioned ride. Dont see them stopping.
We have seen people build 80 ft. GoFast boats in the same shop as centre consoles. Dont see them stopping.
We have a great boat builder out there that has more than one delamenating issue that keeps pushing forward rather than give up. Dont see them stopping.

Just making the point that there are those out there that would venture into anything that is boat related that may be motivated by reasons less mundane than actually making money.

scarabman

iTrader: (1)

There is also Tony Frisini who seems to buying up floundering boat companies looking to put them under a larger umbrella and at the same time bringing new designs/product to market. Somebody has got to believe?

Marginmn

iTrader: (1)

That is a different Bill Gates. The Bill Gates who is currently running Fountain may own a Microsoft based computer but he doesn't own Microsoft Corp.

Wobble

Here is some more info on Liberty Associates.

Owners of Donzi and ProLine and a variety of other businesses

http://www.libertyassociateslc.com/prfile.cfm

http://www.libertyassociateslc.com/index.cfm

Matt Trulio

I spoke with John Walker, the vice president and chief operating officer of Liberty Associates who will also serve as the president of Baja this morning for another story I'm working on. I asked him what Mr. Fountain's administrative leave meant. He said:

"All I can tell you is that he is is on administrative leave and that he is still a valued employee of the company. We are working to see how he fits within the company."