Aquirus founder, visionary, and CNO Steve Isaacson cited
Microsoft's "mindless fixation on products," as a drawback
in competition with Aquirus. "It's a virtual world,"
Isaacson explains, "and Aquirus provides the customer
virtual value."
Few financial experts predicted that dominant corporations like
Microsoft would see their stock total surpassed by a privately
held venture with no discernible products or services.
"If we listened to the experts, we would have never started
Aquirus," notes CCO Chuck "Charles" Evans. "The financial
world is slow to catch on to the new internet economy. They
are too mired in obsolete concepts like P/E ratio, paths to
profitability, revenue, and profits."
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Financial Disclosure
October 1999: Aquirus Tops Microsoft
In just it's first eight months, Aquirus stock (symbol: @§¥Æ)
soared past Microsoft,
leading to the inevitable bidding war for the latest hot e-commerce
property.
The October 4, 1999 2-for-1 split in Aquirus stock brought
the total outstanding stock to 16 billion shares, virtually
quadrupling Microsoft (4.98 billion shares outstanding).
The unprecedented growth in Aquirus shares from it's relatively
modest original distribution of 125 million shares has come off
the strength of seven stock splits since shares were originally
issued at Aquirus's founding on 4/1/98.
The explosive growth is even more impressive contrasted with
that of Microsoft, which as split only 8 times since it's IPO
and only once since Aquirus was formed (see chart below).
Having a large amount of privately issued stock has also
contributed to Aquirus's ability to attract top e-commerce talent.
"Given that we've had little if any revenue, it can be a challenge
to get commitments from top talent in the competitive high tech
market," admitted Aquirus HR Director and CMO Charles "Charlie"
Montgomery.
"It's a tremendous help when you can offer a new hire 1,000 options,
or even just offer 500 options for a particular contribution."
Montgomery does not go out of his way to mention revenue numbers
or the fact that the 1,000 shares is less than a major position
with 63 billion shares outstanding. "We're not seeking math majors
here," he explains.
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Stock Split Comparison |
Aquirus Splits | MSFT splits |
10/4/99 2:1 | 3/26/99 2:1 |
8/6/99 2:1 | 2/20/98 2:1 |
6/20/99 2:1 | 12/6/96 2:1 |
4/1/99 2:1 | 5/20/94 2:1 |
1/4/99 2:1 | 6/12/92 3:2 |
8/16/99 2:1 | 6/26/91 3:2 |
4/1/98* | 4/12/90 2:1 |
| 9/18/87 2:1 |
| 3/13/86* |
* Initial stock issue
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