While Vancouver’s Resource Investment Conference hosted by Cambridge House International was a friendly, upbeat success with exhibitors and investors showing an optimistic outlook for 2015, TD Securities annual mining conference in Toronto took a turn toward ugly with bout of fisticuffs and blood when B2Gold (TSX: BTO, Stock Forum) CEO, Clive Johnson and TD Securities side sell analyst, Daniel Earle went toe-to-toe.
The punchy affair didn’t occur on the conference floor however, but at a reception being held Wednesday night hosted by TD Securities at the Modus Restaurant, an upscale Italian offering in Toronto’s Financial District. It seems as though Clive got a little friendly with a bottle of red wine and was acting in a manner Daniel felt was inappropriate and when Daniel suggested that Clive should ‘settle down’ the bell rang and the altercation began.
According to witnesses at the event, the throw down involved choke holds, sucker punches, bleeding and a black eye. Clive returned to the conference the next day looking a Fight Club loser, sporting a shiner and broken glasses.
Conference participants weren’t impressed citing that this type of behaviour was more expectant from rowdy soccer fans than publicly traded company CEOs. When Clive was approached by the Financial Post via email, he responded that it was a misunderstanding and not involving business. One can only assume he was holding a steak over his face at the time. TD Securities was more tight-lipped about the incident, stating they were aware and were taking steps to deal with the affair which they considered to be internal.
This type of behaviour is extreme, especially in the aforementioned setting; investors deserve better representation from their management teams. This punch up specifically affects Clive as it appears he was the aggressor and as one colleague quipped when I informed him of the altercation, “I guess Clive can kiss that financing goodbye.”
In the end, B2Gold’s CEO should be looking for gold, not a fight.
UPDATE: Now that the dust has settled somewhat, more details have emerged regarding the instigation and nature of the incident. Apparently it all started when Clive heavily tipped a waitress (on the investor's dime?) and after he chatted her up, Daniel Earle (who by all accounts is a mild-mannered individual) joked to Clive that the waitress was only talking to Clive because of his wallet. Clive lost it and is said to have punched Daniel in the face twice. Daniel finally retaliated with a single punch to Clive's face and Clive dropped. Regardless of how it started or what transpired, my previous comment still stands. These are not the actions of a professional.