The putsch at RedEnvelope

Updated

Here’s our update in today’s Merc (you’ll have to scroll down to second-half of the column) on the latest developments at San Francisco online retailer RedEnvelope.

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Co-founder Scott Galloway has finally succeeded in his putsch. It has resulted in a decision by Sequoia’s Michael Moritz to not stand for re-election as chairman, though we’re told Moritz left voluntarily — so wasn’t quite forced out.

Galloway, who has been frustrated by the mediocre performance of RedEnvelope under its current management, tells us “it wasn’t a personal attack,” but said that Moritz’ departure is the “big news.” It opens the way for three new nominations to the board to make some more changes, possibly at the meeting later this month.

“If there’s one person who would make the most productive exit from the company, it would be the CEO,” Galloway tells us. He’s referring to Alison May. Read the story for more. Here’s our past coverage, which covers when we first started asking questions about a Sequoia-related deal that RedEnvelope made.

On the latest change, Galloway concludes: “I see it as a victory for all shareholders. It’s been a year and a half in the making. Bottom line? My goal was to reconfigure the board. That’s happened.”

Update: Galloway has recently increased (downloads file) his personal position by a sizeable amount. Thanks to Michael Brush for pointing this out. Interesting: Maybe the putsch has only just begun. Stay tuned…