Topic: What to expect from Bitcoin Magazine - page 4. (Read 13904 times)

I think he is a new owner, right?

Which is simply not true. All he was is a guy on the skype who gave tasks to illustrators and writers.

I asked to propose another solution if admittedly high hourly rates are not acceptable and suggested that those could be waived should there be some other reasonable agreement regarding my exit and equity buyout. This matter was discussed and understood. But no action were taken and further work was DEMANDED from me.

demands to pay cash and/or equity to his girlfriend while denying that if someone else is doing similar work they should be paid too.

Informing the company that I cannot spend any more time on all the pointless drama where Mihai Alisie was derailing one negotiation and action plan after another by constant abuse, insults and paranoia

EDIT:  to clarify, the new owners did not buy any shares in Bittalk Media, nor did we buy Bittalk media.  Only specific assets were purchased for cash and bitcoins.

So, am I still going to receive the magazine with all this dumbassery going on?

Quantum

The new owners didn't necessarily do anything wrong. But if the sale was fraudulent, then they may not own what they think they own. That is, I am not accusing Tony of any wrongdoing. I'm just saying that Mihai's actions seem suspicious to me.

You mean an account labelled "Throw Tony Under A Bus"?


When shit hits the fan people losers feel the need to defend themselves on bitcointalk which might often drag others into the fray. The only winners are those who don't need to defend themselves, because they aren't losing or accused of anything. In this case it is the new owners... sans maybe Tony.

It's Tony from BitPay who is one of the new owners.

The extent to which minor share-holders were excluded from the process would probably be clearer if Vladimir disclosed the extent of his own and his wife's holdings - given that it's claimed 75% of shareholders accepted the proposal how much of the remaining 25% was controlled by Vladimir and his wife is extremely relevant to whether "minority shareholders" were "defrauded".

hey, i have an expense account labelled "Defending My Integrity"!  

Given alleged misrepresentation on both sides, it is difficult to know the facts. However, my guess is that Valdimir's account is largely accurate (i.e. there was a conspiracy to defraud minority shareholders and Vladimir wisely tried to avoid participation in this conspiracy). My suggestion is that both sides refer these matters to lawyers and avoid making any further actions or statements except on the basis of legal advice.

It's Tony from BitPay who is one of the new owners.

The extent to which minor share-holders were excluded from the process would probably be clearer if Vladimir disclosed the extent of his own and his wife's holdings - given that it's claimed 75% of shareholders accepted the proposal how much of the remaining 25% was controlled by Vladimir and his wife is extremely relevant to whether "minority shareholders" were "defrauded".

02/11/12 VM Consulting discussing trade trick of selling cars with Mihai

I think he is a new owner, right? If the sale was based on defrauding minority shareholders (as Vladimir claims and I think may be true), then Steve has every reason to ask everyone to get past this drama. After all, he is the guy who bought the stolen property.

A voice of reason. Please take this mans advice into consideration, and avoid further embarrasment and pointless juvenile drama.

A voice of reason. Please take this mans advice into consideration, and avoid further embarrasment and pointless juvenile drama.

You guys are spending too much time fretting about this stuff.  To the extent Vladimir feels he's been wronged, he should absolutely seek recompense.  Lawyers, arbitrators and courts exist for that purpose and lawsuits, while costly and best avoided if possible, are a normal part of business.  Disagreements happen all the time.  You guys (Vladimir and Matthew included) have done a great job in bootstrapping Bitcoin magazine into existence.  I wonder if you all really grasp how valuable that experience will be to you in the future. 

I'm looking forward to the next issue and I'm sure those no longer involved with the magazine will go on to do other cool stuff with Bitcoin.

Not just that, bittenbob originally neglected to mention that Mihai (also known as "the guy who just seized control from Vladimir and sold off the company he owned shares in without telling him") paid himself the exact same salary of 100 BTC as Vladimir did, again whilst refusing to pay any other director. Under the circumstances that's hardly a minor omission.

So one of the other directors did receive a payment but none of the other shareholders did.

lol "I paid myself 100 btc NOT 1000$ while paying others nothing.. SEE they WERE lying and I am the victim!"

Pathetic Vladimir. I know nothing about this case, but you have made yourself look very stupid and guilty.

It is my understanding, based on what little information I have, that the transfer of ownership of Bitcoin Magazine has been done improperly and highly likely fraudulently (if the article about new ownership published on bitcoinmagazine.net is true). It might be potentially classed as fraudulent because no proper shareholder vote was done and they have attempted to conceal this matter from at least some shareholders. It is my understanding that Mihai Alisie as sole director of the company acting dishonestly and in conspiracy with a number of third parties has potentially fraudulently transferred assets from other shareholders (the company) to himself and his co-conspirators without shareholder vote being properly done.

I own a significant amount of shares in Bittalk Media Ltd and I am not aware about any shareholder votes related to any significant property transactions nor have I received any consideration for any property of the company or for my shares. The third parties involved in this transaction ought to have known that they are very likely dishonestly assisted in director's breach of fiduciary duty and therefore very likely will be liable themselves.  Not to mention that annual employment contracts received by some look too much like bribes.

It also appears that Mihai Alisie has transferred ownership of domain bitcoinmagazine.com to himself (see whois) while the domain was bought by him acting in capacity of director of the company, following instructions of myself (Managing Director of the company at the time) and using company money that were specifically transferred to him for purpose of purchasing the domain. He also claimed in private conversations that that domain somehow belongs to him and that he himself somehow owns a lot of "intellectual property" which rightfully should have been owned by the company.

I will pursue this matter legally in due course.

Mr. Vladimir fails to explain what caused this transfer of ownership.

Mr. Vladimir decided of his own free will to resign from the Director position in Bittalk Media, and resign from all duties at Bittalk Media.  After this decision, he awarded himself, without any consent from the Board of Directors or consulting anyone, an exit bonus that has brought BitTalk Media on the brink of collapse. The money was critical for the magazine’s printing, shipping and distribution. His actions pushed me towards looking for ways to save the magazine, since obviously this was not in his agenda. Vladimir himself brought Tony in to mediate this dispute and after trying on numerous occasions to come to an agreement it was clear that other options should be taken in consideration.

Mr. Vladimir failed to turn over access to the company’s bank accounts, PayPal accounts, and other assets under his control.  He also started to charge BitTalk Media at a rate of 80 GBP per hour for the time required to respond to messages and emails that asked for clarifications and actions regarding these company assets.  Even more, he was paying himself for the time that was required to pay himself. All these actions lead towards considering him as a rogue/hostile shareholder.  As the sole remaining Director in Bittalk Media I had a meeting with the shareholders, where we discussed our options.

The sale of assets was handled by a licensed UK attorney specialized in Commercial Law, Contracts and Company Law and all the papers were signed by shareholders representing approximately 75% of the voting interest in Bittalk Media.

I think that Mr. Vladimir should stop posing as a victim and he should take full credit for reducing the value of BitTalk Media with his greed and ethically questionable actions. Regarding the fiduciary duty that he keeps bringing about, I would like to remind him that while he was a Director he repeatedly threatened the shareholders to block an investment that would have brought over $65,000 in new capital and probably would have saved the company.

More than this, and probably the reason for deciding to resign from the Director position, he has failed to explain more than $20,000 in expenses for items such as $8,000 in IT fees for 8 months for hosting a wordpress blog on a server which he owns, and for paying 300 GBP per month (full rent) in rent for office space which is also utilized by other businesses owned by Vladimir, and for over $3000 in software for “digital publications” of Bitcoin Magazine that never produced any digital publications.

I would also like to point out that since the beginning of the company, he has included his wife as a Director and has awarded her equity for taking care of the accounting. To this day, I am still patiently waiting, to receive the income statements, balance sheets and the statement of cash flows of this company.  During the course of due diligence, the new owners discovered that in fact these accounting documents did not exist.

If Mr. Vladimir wants to perpetuate this drama on the forums, I can publicly disclose the invoices sent by him to BitTalk Media as well as the shareholder signed documents.

Vitalik, Matthew, Adam and the rest of the shareholders support this action and signed the documents to solidify their support of the asset sale.  All shareholders will receive a dividend payout from the sale, which will be handled by an attorney.

Also, since it seems that Mr. Vladimir has some problems with his memory regarding his wife shares and position in the company I am attaching the following:

During the period of November 13-15, Bittalk had 293 GBP in the bank account, which I could not access.  The company had $58 in our PayPal account, which also I could not access.  Both accounts were under the sole control of former employee and former Director Mr. Vladimir, after he resigned.

While the terms of the deal are undisclosed, I was able to receive a fair price for selling the surplus magazines, iMac computer, and other intangible assets.

To maximize the cash value to shareholders, I decided to stop all production on issue 6, not incur any more expenses at all, and return as much cash as possible to our shareholders.

This process will be handled by a liquidation attorney to make sure all revenue and cash is properly accounted for and distributed.  This will include the Barnes & Noble revenue for issues 3, 4, and 5.  All shareholders of Bittalk Media will receive a cash dividend payment once this process is complete.

Bitcoin Magazine will live on, and is now owned by a very talented group of persons in the bitcoin community with very good business experience.

it was sold for some unknown to me amount and in secret from some shareholders and justified by defamatory statements (likely for by an order of magnitude lower amount) to Mihai's and Vitalik's new employer and with likely extreme prejudice to minority shareholders. It is as simple as that.