RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:MY PROPOSAL TO PROPOSED NOMINATIONS TO STRENGTHEN WRN BOARDI appreciate your viewpoints; it appears we share similar concerns but have different approaches to the issue. Your highlighting of these matters reinforces even more my belief that policies need adjustment to reflect investors' interests. As I mentioned earlier, investing personal funds signals a belief in the company's future growth, while share ownership motivates active oversight and management scrutiny. For example, Robert McEven's commitment to the company's future growth is evident, as he receives a symbolic $1 as CEO. In contrast, Marcus Lemonis, recently appointed Executive Chairman of Beyond, Inc., will receive no salary or guaranteed equity. Instead, his compensation will be entirely performance-based, consisting of stock options with rigorous stock price hurdles, aligning his compensation with the creation of long-term shareholder value.
These should be the first two questions in the interview for new board members: Firstly, do you believe in the company's future growth? And secondly, are you willing to align with shareholders in the creation of meaningful, long-term stockholder value? The best candidates for the job will say yes, while the worst will say no.
WRN doesn't have cash flow; all general and administrative expenses are covered by shareholder dilution. Shareholders pay for Tara, Vitton, Paul and others and they track record speaks for itself. Let's refresh everyone's memory: Independent Director and CEO Dr. Paul West-Sells attended numerous conferences last year. He advocated for the undervalued nature of WRN shares and hinted at a promising collaboration with Rio T, all while consistently reducing his personal holdings, dumping them on retail investors, totaling CA$613k.
Similarly, during this period, another Independent Director, Klaus Zeitler, sold a significant portion of his shares, about 127k, to retail investors at roughly CA$2.49 per share. Subsequently, management, after promoting WRN shares as undervalued at $2.5, granted Rio an additional stake for $1.72 to guarantee themselves a cushy job for the next year or so, with yet another dilution at $1.32 and $1.9. Approximately 20% of shareholders' wealth has been diverted to the treasury, surrounded by hungry wolves.
It's evident that in the current market conditions, with copper at a record $5 and gold close to a record $2400, investors stay away not due to a lack of a compelling business case, but because of the industry's tarnished reputation stemming from similar actions. These so-called board veterans move from company to company offering standard "POLICY" like a revolving door, so it's not surprising that 95% of companies in the resource sector are just shareholder wealth destroyers.
It's time for a change. We have a better chance to influence policy than to pick up directors. We need a board and management that can be trusted, a team that prioritizes the company's growth and shareholder interests over personal gains. We should not micro or macro-manage or tell the CEO what to do. Instead, we should influence policies that incentivize them to do the right thing and not reward them for doing the wrong thing.