Mayo

[sofa.king]

I was reading another forum and they were talking about Mayo Schmidt being the ceo of hydro 1 in Ontario. It won't take that crook too long to bankrupt that company just like he did at sask wheat pool. How do these guys keep getting jobs for being such failures.

[stubblejumper]

SWP was bankrupt long before Mayo took over

[grefer]

SWP was bankrupt long before Mayo took over

Yes it was. Mayo was left with the aftermath. I didn't care much for the way he operates but SWP was dead in the water for farmer investors when he took over.

[sofa.king]

True that swp was in bad shape but his mission was to run it into the ground so that it could be broken up and sold off. This is done in business when a hostile take over won't work. While the pool sank he received millions just like he is now at 4 million a year

[Braveheart]

SWP was sunk by the Board of Directors which was dominated by dingbats pretty much since it's inception.

[farmaholic]

Braveheart. The old SWP didn't get to where it was before its demise by complete stupidity. Maybe things went bad when more "educated suits" sat on the BOD than people with farming backgrounds who would normally wear plaid under their suit coats!

Where the "concrete tombstones" a mistake in hindsight?, hardly!(for them anyway) Doughnut shops? Investing in port facilities in other countries? Livestock? Overpaying for Agricore United?

Way over leveraged and the liability of farmer equity on the balance sheet evaporated!

Completely off the cuff comment.

[redleaf]

X2000 farmaholic. Off the cuff but pretty much dead on.

[blackpowder]

Not intimate with the history but I'm with Bheart here.
Co ops, whether arena or grain company have to get rid of the bib overalls and bare feet on the board eventually.
Now didnt Mayo take an insolvent company and sell it for huge gains short years later??

[farmaholic]

Kinda like the railroads?..... always good for the Company and it's "shareholders" but not the people they were initially set up to serve? Oh I suppose I could always buy their shares..... but the long term costs of their change in focus will likely never be recouped by share appreciation and dividends.

I guess my opinions stem from the fact I have no formal business education.
It's Sunday and my feet will breathe until tomorrow! And I'll enjoy the comfort of pajama pants as long as I can today. (No livestock to tend to anymore).

And to prove just how much of a hillbilly I am..... time to make some venison stew! LOL enjoy the rest of the day!

[sumdumguy]

Farma, I agree with your perspective. The day the suits moved in, the business was done. Over-expansion in foreign countries, and taking on companies in which you have no expertise, how many times do you see this business model just before the big dive?

[grefer]

At the end of the day it is up to the BOD to protect shareholder value. They failed.

[WiltonRanch]

Mayo was an axe man. Got swp ready for a buyer. Swp themselves sure done some stupid shit too. That terminal in Polland was a good concept but swp didn't have deep enough pockets or the mental Capitol to see it through. How much they sunk into it only to bail for pennies. Whatever happened to the 10 9600's they sent to Russia to farm with? I remember our pool agent once was looking in to getting a placement at a swp facility in Mexico.

Sure the swp knew their woodies would be antiquated someday and needed to build the concrete units. However, the grain business went for shit and they had already went whole hog. Maybe just bad timing as much as poor management.

Dang also forgot they got into pigs and lost their ass. About the only profitable other venture they were in was the stockyards. Not big money but at least profitable.

[Ache4Acres]

Isn't Sasktel now pretty top heavy on "upper management" and trying to operate in a bunch of other countries. What the heck does Sasktel have 8 people currently working in Bahamas? Sounds pretty close to the Swp model...maybe Mayos next gig

[sumdumguy]

These crown corporations were spawned to provide basic utilities to provincial residents. Where is the premier in the decisions? I say everything should be open to scrutiny, everything! Mr. Wall.