More to Chew On at Whole Foods

Posted by: Diane Brady on July 12

John Mackey’s penchant for proselytizing under a fake name has proven more potent than he would have thought. Bear Stearns analyst Robert Summers thinks the Federal Trade Commission could now succeed in stopping Mackey’s Whole Foods Market from buying Wild Oats.

The reason isn’t simply that Mackey was trashing Wild Oats on Yahoo! boards under the name Rahodeb without noting his position as Whole Foods CEO. Summers also notes that the filing gives the impression that Whole Foods seems obsessed with “running Wild Oats out of business”. And Summers’ view of Mackey’s moonlighting as the online pundit, Rahodeb? At best, it’s a distraction, he says. “At worst, this endangers the CEO role at the company.”

Investors seem a little distracted at the moment as the stock is down.

For another view of the Mackey scandal, check out this post by PR exec Eric Starkman.

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