Gunpowder Chronicle posted on July 9, 2007 10:01 PM | Rating:
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In a colossally stupid move, shareholders of Laureate Education approved the $3.8 billion buyout offer from Doug Becker and his back-room friends. How this wasn't also a collosal conflict of interest-- Becker as Chairman charged with maximizing value and at the same time as buyer trying to get the lowest price -- is beyond me.
Laureate is one-half of what used to be Sylvan Learning Systems. SLS was given over $10 million in tax breaks and incentives back in 1999 in order to keep the from moving the HQ out of Baltimore City. They built a new tower on Fleet Street, and purchased the Koldkiss Building for their eSylvan unit. (Full disclosure: I used to work for eSylvan and watched as Becker and Hoehn-Sarinc and David Graves made collosal leadership and management blunders that doomed that unit to hte obscurity it enjoys today-- and blew $70 million in the process.)
Of course, those breaks came with certain conditions, like hiring 1000 well-paid employees. Guess what? Never happened. NEVER HAPPENED.
So, as a former eSylvan stockholder AND a taxpayer, I have one question: when does the state get its money back?
I'm waiting...