Vonage is going public, and Bill Sjostrom is wondering about the quality of their service. I am more concerned about their management. Try out this disclosure about CEO Jeffrey Citron:

There are numerous factors about the past of our Founder, Chairman and Chief Strategist, Jeffrey A. Citron, that you should consider before investing in our common stock.

Past SEC actions against Mr. Citron and others. Prior to joining Vonage, Mr. Citron was associated with Datek Securities Corporation and Datek Online Holdings Corp., including as an employee of, and consultant for, Datek Securities and, later, as one of the principal executive officers and largest stockholders of Datek Online. Mr. Citron originally joined Datek Securities in 1989 at the age of 18 at the invitation of Sheldon Maschler (another principal executive officer and large stockholder of Datek and long−time friend of Mr. Citron's family). Datek Online, which was formed in early 1998 following a reorganization of the Datek business, was a large online brokerage firm. Datek Securities was a registered broker−dealer that engaged in a number of businesses, including proprietary trading and order execution services. During a portion of the time that Mr. Citron was associated with Datek Securities, the SEC alleged that Datek Securities, Mr. Maschler, Mr. Citron and certain other individuals participated in an extensive fraudulent scheme involving improper use of the Nasdaq Stock Market's Small Order Execution System, or SOES. In January 2003, Mr. Maschler, Mr. Citron and others entered into settlement agreements with the SEC to resolve charges that they had improperly used SOES from 1993 until early 1998, when Datek Securities' day−trading operations were sold to Heartland Securities Corporation. Mr. Maschler and others, but not Mr. Citron, were alleged to have continued such improper use until June 2001 at Heartland Securities. SOES, an automated trading system, was restricted by NASD rules to individual customers, and brokerage firms such as Datek Securities were prohibited from using SOES to trade for their own accounts. The SEC alleged that Mr. Citron and the other defendants accessed the SOES system to execute millions of unlawful proprietary trades, generating tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits. The complaint further alleged that these defendants hid their fraudulent use of the SOES system from regulators by allocating the trades to dozens of nominee accounts, creating fictitious books and records, and filing false reports with the SEC. To settle the charges, Mr. Maschler, Mr. Citron and the other individuals paid $70 million in civil penalties and disgorgements of profits, of which Mr. Citron paid $22.5 million in civil penalties. These fines were among the largest fines ever collected by the SEC against individuals. In addition, Mr. Citron was enjoined from future violations of certain provisions of the U.S. securities laws, including the antifraud provisions set forth in Section 17(a) of the Securities Act, Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b−5 promulgated under the Exchange Act. Mr. Citron also agreed to accept an SEC order that permanently bars him from association with any securities broker or dealer. Mr. Maschler and the other individuals and corporations agreed to similar restrictions. Mr. Citron settled theses charges without admitting or denying the allegations in the SEC's complaint. The SEC reached a separate settlement with Datek Securities (through its successor iCapital Markets LLC) in January 2002, which resulted in a censure and a civil penalty of $6.3 million.

Past NASD disciplinary action. In 1994, Datek Securities, Mr. Maschler, Mr. Citron and others associated with Datek Securities were the subject of an administrative complaint by the NASD for violating NASD rules governing SOES between November 1991 and February 1993. The complaint also alleged improper supervision of subordinates responsible for entry of SOES orders. Datek Securities, Mr. Citron and the other individuals settled the charges in January 1997. Pursuant to the settlement, Mr. Citron paid a fine of $20,000 and was suspended from any association (other than as a computer consultant) with Datek Securities for 20 days.

Past association with Robert E. Brennan. During the late 1990s, Mr. Citron was an acquaintance of Robert E. Brennan, having been introduced to Brennan by Mr. Maschler in 1996. In that year, Mr. Citron purchased real estate and an airplane from entities associated with Brennan. Mr. Citron also socialized with Brennan and vacationed with Brennan in early 1999. Brennan previously owned First Jersey Securities, a securities brokerage firm that ceased doing business in 1985 after civil actions were brought by the SEC. In 1995, Brennan was fined $75.0 million by the SEC for massive securities fraud, including fraud relating to penny stock sales by First Jersey Securities. Brennan also was permanently barred from the securities business and enjoined from violations of the U.S. securities laws. In 2002, Brennan was convicted of bankruptcy fraud, money laundering, and obstruction of justice and was sentenced to a total of 12 years in federal prison. Mr. Citron has never been implicated in any of these actions, complaints or findings against Brennan and has not had material business or personal dealings with Brennan since 1999.

Impact of these matters on our company. There is a risk that some third parties will not do business with us, that some prospective investors will not purchase our securities or that some customers may be wary of signing up for service with us as a result of the past SEC and NASD settlements and related allegations against Mr. Citron, as well as his past association with Mr. Maschler or Brennan. We believe that some financial institutions and accounting firms have declined to enter into business relationships with us in the past, at least in part because of these matters. Other institutions and potential business associates may not be able to do business with us because of internal policies that restrict associations with individuals who have entered into SEC and NASD settlements. While we believe that these matters have not had a material impact on our business, they may have a greater impact on us after we become a public company, including by adversely affecting our ability to enter into commercial relationships with third parties that we need to effectively and competitively grow our business. Further, should Mr. Citron in the future be accused of, or be shown to have engaged in additional improper or illegal activities, the impact of those accusations or the potential penalties from such activities could be exacerbated because of the matters discussed above. If any of these risks were to be realized, there could be a material adverse effect on our business or the market price of our common stock.

Notice the one reference to Citron's age: "Mr. Citron originally joined Datek Securities in 1989 at the age of 18." Are they attempting to imply that his fraudulent acts were youth indiscretions? He is 35 years old now.

Vonage is walking an tight line here. Citron is the founder of the company, and he owns 41% of the shares. But you can't have a CEO of a public company with that profile. What do you do?

In this instance, Citron is stepping down as CEO, though according to the prospectus, he "will retain responsibility for our overall strategy technology matters, employee culture and public relations." Under his new employment agreement, Citron will get $600,000 a year for that, with a potential bonus of up to $600,000.

Is that enough?

IPOs | Bookmark

TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8345157d569e200d8352b5d7369e2

Links to weblogs that reference Vonage IPO: