Mackey’s Kinky Business Behavior

As a former Whole Foods Market team member and current WFM shareholder, I’m embarrassed by John Mackey’s kinky business behavior.

If you haven’t heard, John Mackey was outed for posting over 1,300 messages in the Yahoo! financial boards from 1999 to mid-2006. In these messages, Mackey hid behind an alias (“rahodeb”) and trumpeted Whole Foods while trashing Wild Oats. (Go here for lots of links on the story.)

This is behavior unbecoming of a CEO no matter the size of the company. This foolishness makes me want to question Mackey's character and judgment. Even when he was outed, Mackey didn't think his actions were wrong. Instead of admitting he made a mistake, Mackey defended his kinky business behavior by saying the FTC is out to embarrass him and that he got his jollies from debating all things Whole Foods-related on the message board.

Go ahead, read his defensive comments culled from the Whole Foods website...

“The FTC discovered my identity as rahodeb through one of the millions of litigation documents that Whole Foods provided to them. They are quoting rahodeb in some of their legal documents and no doubt seek to embarrass both me and Whole Foods through these disclosures. I want to make the following points about rahodeb here:

1. I posted on Yahoo! under a pseudonym because I had fun doing it. Many people post on bulletin boards using pseudonyms.
2. I never intended any of those postings to be identified with me.
3. The views articulated by rahodeb sometimes represent what I actually believed and sometimes they didn't. Sometimes I simply played "devil's advocate" for the sheer fun of arguing. Anyone who knows me realizes that I frequently do this in person, too.
4. Rahodeb's postings therefore do not represent any official beliefs, policies, or intentions by either Whole Foods Market or by me.
5. At no time did I reveal any proprietary information about Whole Foods on Yahoo!
6. All of rahodeb's postings should be read in the full context of the discussions that were taking place on the bulletin board at the time the postings were made. Reading them out of context may lead to serious misunderstandings.
7. All of rahodeb's postings also need to be understood in the context of the time that they were written. Because the competitive market has evolved so much in the last 5 years, older postings mean far less today than they did when they were written."

All of this shouldn’t have a bearing on the case to overturn the FTC’s decision to block the Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats merger. However, this SHOULD have a major impact on Whole Foods if they are allowed to merge with Wild Oats as it relates to new employee morale.

How happy will ex-Wild Oats employees be to work as new Whole Foods team members for a CEO that once had this to say about their old company?...

“Whole Foods is undervalued and OATS very much overvalued. Jennison and Fidelity didn’t buy a large stake in OATS, they chose Whole Foods. There is no value in OATS, it’s run is near the end, stock could be flat to negative for years, the fundamentals need to catch up, bad company, risky investment."

April 19, 2005 |Yahoo! Message board posting by “rahodeb” (aka John Mackey)

If you are interested in digging deep into John Mackey's business kinkiness, read all the "rahodeb" message board postings. You can also read analysis from USA TODAY showing that Mackey would sometimes make 17 postings in a day. Oh my...

This is messy, messy stuff.

Comments

[finn mckenty]

"The views articulated by rahodeb sometimes represent what I actually believed and sometimes they didn't. Sometimes I simply played "devil's advocate" for the sheer fun of arguing. Anyone who knows me realizes that I frequently do this in person, too."

Translation: I was just trolling, don't worry about it.

[Linda]

Let's burn him at the stake, maybe Conrad Black could join him.

[mike]

Messy, messy stuff John? I think you and many others are making much to much about this. I don't think there is any story here, but the press and bloggers are surely trying to build one. Do y'all really NEED to be in the middle of a continuing soap opera all the time? Does it give you a sense of self-importance to opine from your pulpit about the behavior of others? Judge not, John, judge not...

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

Mike ... thanks for opining your thoughts here and for judging my actions.

Looks like we disagree here. I find it very odd that a CEO would use an alias to post 1,300+ messages in a stock message board trashing a competitor's stock while trumpeting his stock.

[Bill Gammell]

John,

I think you hit the nail on the head when you questioned the state of happiness of the ex-Wild Oats employees that will work for a CEO that has trashed their company. I mean, let’s take a step back and think about it for a second. Let’s suppose that you are one the ex-Wild Oats employee. You just spent years working for a company that you cared for and felt very passionate about its goals and purpose. Now you’ll be working for a CEO that has not only trashed your beloved company for the last 7 years but he makes no apologies about it.

Mackey did say, “Anyone who knows me realizes that I frequently do [play devil’s advocate] in person, too.” But that is the problem. Many of the Wild Oats employees may not know Mackey. Their first taste of his leadership may be one of distrust and trying to find the hidden agendas. So instead of the “welcome to the team” pat on the rump that these ex-ers will need on merger day, they’ll only be left with a wedgie-like feeling of separation. Not pleasant!

[Jay Ehret]

Are we sure that comment was really from "Mike" or was it from John Mackey having some fun posting as "Mike?"

[Sean ODriscoll]

I was going to ask you about this when we have dinner soon...knowing you worked at Whole Foods in the past. I was shocked...beyond shocked...when I first heard this news. Not sure the legal world has caught up with the web2.0 world, but this feels to me like it boarders on illegality - given the aquisition that was to happen. Bash your competitor online (with any ID)...a little slimy. Do so while you are negotiating to aquire them...more than slimy.

see you soon.
Sean
Communitygrouptherapy.com

[matt]

At first I thought this was not a big deal, he's a human being and free to express his views. And considering the type of individual he is (I've had plenty of those spirited chats with him in my years at WFM) I chalked it up to no big deal. And then I realized that this isn't any way to foster any type of "team member happiness" and just reflects poorly on him and the company he built.

I guess it's a big enough deal to warrant an investigation by WFM's own board. Perhaps bloggers weren't making a big deal of this after all.

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

Matt ... all this does "reflect poorly on him and the company he built." That's probably why Mackey has reversed course and apologized for his 1,300+ "rahodeb" postings. As you very well know, Team Member happiness at WFM is mega-important.

No business is perfect. No person is perfect. We all commit business sins and personal sins. We should own up to our mistakes, apologize, ask for forgiveness, deal with the consequences, and trudge onward.

[matt]

Well said. I do hope we can all move forward!