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(re: re: Ken Williams Q&A) How come the share holders sold seirra? Have you or Roberta thought about working at sierra to creat a new game?
Sierra was a public company. We weren’t for sale, but were surprised by an offer to acquire us for approximately 90% over the price we were trading at. I don’t remember the exact numbers, but I think we were trading for around $25 per share, and were offered $48 per share.
As CEO, I had a “fiscal duty” to shareholders to take the deal.
At the time, I thought that it was a win-win for both shareholders and Sierra. The company that acquired Sierra also acquired Blizzard, and had plans to do other acquisitions. The goal was to create a major entertainment company, with even better distribution for Sierra products.
Unfortunately, the company that acquired Sierra turned out to have falsified its financials, and several members of its management team are facing very possible jail time. The Sierra acquisition turned out to be a total disaster, both for shareholders (and option holders) and for employees – most of which lost their jobs.
Roberta and I have thought about working at Sierra to do another game, but aren’t sure we would want to – and, its not clear they would want us.
-Ken W
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