NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Hedge fund JAT Capital urged the board of internet retailer Overstock.com (OSTK.O) to replace the company's chief executive officer, arguing that Jonathan E. Johnson III is to blame for poor financial performance.
JAT, run by John Thaler, owns a 9.6% stake in Overstock.com, and is stepping up pressure, having called on the company in October to consider selling certain assets and to overhaul management compensation.
"The current CEO needs to be removed immediately," JAT wrote to the board in a letter dated Nov. 2 and made public in a regulatory filing on Friday.
Thaler, who wrote the letter just days before Overstock.com's analyst day on Monday, proposed that businessman and television personality Marcus Lemonis, who joined the Overstock.com board last month, should become CEO.
Overstock's stock price climbed nearly 3% on Friday but has lost 23% in the last 52 weeks.
Persons:
Jonathan E, Johnson, John Thaler, JAT, Thaler, Marcus Lemonis, Lemonis, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Louise Heavens
Organizations:
Capital, Bed, Svea, Thomson
Locations:
Overstock.com