A letter from Michael Hartleib:
First I'd like to thank those that attended the shareholder meeting and for letting management know first hand how outraged we are.
Security at the meeting was very strict, in fact, we went through metal detectors, our brief cases were searched and the auditorium was filled with dozens of security guards.
Several members let Mel Karmazin know that he has failed the shareholders miserably. He was extremely defensive and wanted to make excuses for his and the company's failures. The very first slide shown was from Best Buy's CEO stating how horrible the economy is. Mr. Karmazin was full of excuses and at one point replied to my questions with an answer of "Mr. Hartleib, I don't know if you watch the news or read the newspaper, but things change". He actually had the nerve to tell us how proud he was of management and that he is certain he made the right decision by merging these two companies, especially given the weak economy. He suggested that without this merger Sirius would not have been a viable entity on its own. As I pointed out this is not what we were told for the last two years, we were told that Sirius did not need this merger to sustain its viability. That is when Mr. Karmazin replied with his statement quoted above. A member of SaveSirius asked Mr. Karmazin about his comments stating he would like to take the company private. Mr. Karmazin actually denied ever stating this.
There were approximately 150 people in attendance. I believe all but two were opposed to management and their actions. There was little or no applause during the meeting and, in fact, once the meeting ended it was dead silent. Mr. Karmazin quickly escaped back stage.
After attending the meeting in person, I'm now more convinced than ever that Mr. Karmazin and his management team are in fact toxic to shareholders, have breached their fiduciary duties, will continue to breach their fiduciary duties, and unjustly enrich themselves at the shareholders' expense.
The most troubling part of the trip was when I was told by a reliable source that there is already a "prepackaged bankruptcy plan" drafted and ready to file. I suggest every shareholder contact general counsel for the company, forget about Investor Relations, as their information is not reliable to say the least, and demand an answer as to if there is a prepackaged bankruptcy plan. When asked at the meeting, Mr. Karmazin would not rule out bankruptcy, although he said he did not think it would happen. He did say he believes he will be able to refinance the company's debt.
I'm sorry for the delay, more to follow. I'm a little under the weather. Below is part of an article from Radio Business Report with a few details of the meeting.
The shareholders meeting was hardly a love-fest. Dissident shareholder Michael Hartleib, who had sued the company and established SaveSirius.org, said Karmazin took questions for two hours, mostly from people opposed to the reverse stock split and other management actions. "We caused a lot of trouble," he said. The opponents unfurled 16 banners -- eight urging a no vote on the reverse split and eight promoting the group's website."You're making excuses for everything," Hartleib said he told the CEO after hearing how the economy was affecting the company. Hartleib said the problems at Sirius XM began well before the economy tanked.
Hartleib is still making plans to renew his lawsuit, but he's now worried that the company will beat him to the courthouse. He claims to have information that Sirius XM has begun work on a pre-packaged bankruptcy filing.