Tiny Ltd shares drop 16% as founders step down and new leadership takes over
Canadian holding company Tiny Ltd saw its shares fall by 16 percent on Monday after its founders stepped down as co-CEOs and one of them announced plans to sell millions of shares, as reported by BNN Bloomberg.
Tiny, which primarily invests in internet companies, reported on Thursday that co-founders Andrew Wilkinson and Chris Sparling had stepped down effective immediately to become co-chairmen while remaining “actively involved.”
On Friday, a filing revealed that Wilkinson plans to sell up to 3.1 million shares, about 1.7 percent of the company, valued at around $8.4m based on Friday’s closing price of $2.7 per share.
The share disposal includes donations to Wilkinson’s private foundation and gifts to family and former employees. Despite this sale, Wilkinson still retains over 60 percent ownership of Tiny, according to Bloomberg data.
By the end of trading in Toronto on Monday, Tiny lost approximately $80m in market capitalization, with trading volumes more than five times the three-month average.
A spokesperson for Tiny explained, “The majority of Wilkinson’s wealth remains in Tiny, and most of those shares were transferred to the Tiny Foundation, as well as to early Metalab and other employees. This was planned for a long time and discussed in Andrew’s upcoming book, ‘Never Enough,’ where he details his decision to give back to early employees who contributed significantly to the company’s success.”
Regarding the CEO transition to Jordan Taub, the company pointed to Wilkinson’s previous statement that Taub has “proven himself to be an exceptional leader,” allowing Wilkinson and Sparling to focus on relationships with founders, sourcing acquisitions, and setting the company’s long-term vision.
Wilkinson has compared his investment approach to that of Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and recently published an autobiographical book titled ‘Never Enough: From Barista to Billionaire.’ His supporters have included billionaire hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman.
In first-quarter results last month, Tiny reported revenue of $49m and an operating loss of $4.3m, with $136m in debt.
Canaccord analysts led by Robert Young previously described Tiny’s fourth-quarter earnings in April as “lackluster,” noting that $3.3m of losses on sales of subsidiaries last year “undermine the argument that Tiny’s investment record has been successful.”
Additionally, the CEO of one of Tiny’s larger portfolio companies, Dribbble Holdings Ltd, stepped down in April after seven years, according to his LinkedIn page.
