Thread regarding Riverbed Technology Inc. layoffs

TB was sold a bill of goods by some exceptionally charismatic folks.

I was in a position to see reporting and the actual underlying data back when I worked at RVBD and every time I came across a question mark I was told "don't ask how the sausage gets made". I'm honestly surprised they haven't taken legal action against some of the senior execs who were involved back in their initial discovery.

In hindsight, look at the track records of most of these execs. Nothing but charm and sunny days, thank you very much for the golden parachute. Very little execution.

I thought TB had a really good track record for turning a profit on the companies they buy. How did they slip up on Riverbed?

Founders / Class A shares are only part of the problem. TB borrowed over $2bn dollars and they won't see any return on their leveraged investment unless that debt has been repaid which I suspect hasn't happened yet.

As for IPO, forget it. Fire sale or "restructuring " most likely outcomes

I wonder if the Founders stock is, ironically, an obstacle to selling the company. They are guaranteed a 9% annual return–unless there is zero return. For the company to go public they would have to generate enough money to pay out all the Founders shareholders–which may not be possible given current valuations. If the company were to be sold, the buyer would have to pay out the Founders shareholders, which again may be more than the company is worth. The only way for the Founders shareholders to get paid now would be IPO or acquisition. So it's a catch 22.

The only path I see now would be bankruptcy. That would probably wipeout all of the shareholders. If TB is a creditor, at least they could get that money back. Then, they could sell off what's left and potentially provide the shareholders at least a partial payout.

It's nothing new. RVBD and Thoma Bravo have decided to not purchase A-Stocks and B-Stocks after Q3-2020 results.

No stock buy back? Not even the class B at pennies per, sounds like a fire sale is coming!

So the message is what? This is a sinking ship, a failing company, the board has zero confidence in Riverbed and do not want to take on any additional risk?

Somebody did me a HUGE solid without intending to. They made me sell when I departed so I would up making the 9% annual growth. THANK YOU!

It’s not fair to blame Jerry. The agreement clearly stated that the board has the option to buy back the founders stock from departing employees if they want to but they don’t have to. If they don’t, as may be the case now, then one would need to wait for a liquidity event. One knew what oneself was getting into when buying the founders stock back in 2015. Stop complaining.

Jerry, the ultimate snake oil salesman, was the one that always said he wants to give employees an opportunity to make life changing money. when the company went private in a lot of employees ended up getting a little bit of a payout from their vested invested stock, that's when snake oil salesman Jerry jumped in with an offer you should not refuse, invest in Founders day stock, available for a limited time to a limited amount of employees. Worst case you make 9% return on your money. What they didn't tell you is the fine print. Nearly 6 years later and your money is still locked down in the orange Palace unable to be accessed or returned. To not buy back Class B shares that are probably valued at this point and under a penny. Wow shocking to hear and pathetic business practice!

Is there any proof of such board decision? In past 2 months we lost 7-8 engineers in our BU. People are definitely leaving.

This was only two months ago...declining sales, declining cash flow, no innovation, no real business strategy and absolutely no leadership (other than lip service and conflated egos). The facts in the downgrade support the absolute lack of interest from TB in share buybacks...leaving all of the employees who invested their time, money and part of their careers holding the proverbial bag. Thanks Executive Leadership Team...pathetic

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/Riverbed-Technology-inc-moodys-downgrades-173109230.html

Class B + Zero Innovation + Offshoring jobs + Terrible leadership = Ponzi scheme

I left a couple of years ago. I tried to keep my class B shares because I only got a few hundred dollars for them. I figured I’d rather just let it ride but they forced me to sell. Oh well. I made some money overall on the class A shares, but nothing crazy.

Riverbed is going broke. Such a shame.