Kotaku
Jack Thompson, ever the delusionist, has given up on harassing journalists and politicians and is zoning in on investors for his latest anti-Take-Two spiel.
Today Thompson decided to drop Edward C. Johnson, III, chairman of Fidelity Investments, a friendly note to try and convince the guy to drop the company's Take-Two shares. For those of you who don't follow who owns what out there (and that typically includes me), Fidelity owns more than 20 percent of the game developer.
In his letter, Thompson continues to insist that he "prepared Senator Clinton" for her Grand Theft Auto bashing press conference and goes on to say he knows a lot of secret, company-killing stuff about Take-Two and the SEC investigation.
He never really gets around to spilling the beans in the letter, but does hint that he was partially responsible for the informal SEC investigation and that he's helping out the lawyers involved in what could become a class-action lawsuit against the company.
Thompson claims the key to the SEC investigation can be found in the company's 10-k filing last month. He also tries to rope the company's outside general counsel, Blank Rome, into the whole mess as well as Barbara Kaczynski, Take-Two's former audit chair.
Here's the kicker:
In short, without herein divulging all I know, I'll say this: Somebody at Fidelity needs to talk to me immediately if not sooner. You all owe that to your investors.
I guess Thompson figures if he can't convince politicians or the media that Take-Two is the antichrist, he can at least try to dry up their funds. I tried figuring out the 10-K filed by Take-Two, but I'm an embicile. If you feel like you will fare better, check it out for yourself, just make sure to report back your findings. Hit the jump for Jack's full letter.
July 13, 2006
Edward C. Johnson, III
Chairman
Fidelity Investments (FMR)
Re: Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (TTWO on NASDAQ)
Dear Mr. Johnson:
As you know, Fidelity reportedly owns more than 20% of the above company's stock. In one year that stock has fallen in value from $28 to $9, primarily because of the "Hot Coffee" scandal which broke because of Senator Hillary Clinton's July 2005 press conference. I prepared Senator Clinton for that news conference, and here is a graphic depiction of the subsequent stock price tumble:
I was on CBS's 60 Minutes twice last year regarding Take-Two, and the August 2005 issue of Reader's Digest reported my efforts against this company. They didn't report a tenth of what I know.
Mr. Johnson, I know some facts about Take-Two that your company apparently does not know. The latest SEC investigation of Take-Two, announced Monday, comes as no surprise to me. It may come as a surprise to you and your analysts, however, that there may be some very significant problems with certain information in Take-Two's 10-K filed with the SEC months ago. I identified those potential problems immediately and shared them with the SEC. I also shared them with the lawyers who are seeking class action status for shareholders suing Take-Two.
One of the potential problems we have here (more accurately, that Fidelity has here, in my opinion) is the fact that the outside general counsel to Take-Two is the Philadelphia law firm of Blank Rome, which is also Take-Two's registered lobbyist on Capitol Hill. What I can tell you about Blank Rome and other aspects of Take-Two's problems might help explain why Take-Two's audit chair, Barbara Kaczynski, quit the Take-Two board, hired a top-notch criminal attorney, and wrote the SEC about Take-Two's alleged cover-up by senior management.
In short, without herein divulging all I know, I'll say this: Somebody at Fidelity needs to talk to me immediately if not sooner. You all owe that to your investors.
Regards, Jack Thompson
Jack Thompson, Attorney
