Riot Blockchain plummets after CNBC investigation finds no evidence of an advertised shareholders meeting (RIOT)

Riot Blockchain stock price

In an interview with Business Insider, CEO John O'Rourke called the report "one-sided" and a "hit piece" that has "wiped out significant shareholder value."
Riot Blockchain fell 19% Friday after CNBC reported its annual shareholders meeting was never even booked.

Shares of Riot Blockchain, one of the first in a long string of companies to raise their stock price by pivoting to blockchain, fell more than 19% Friday morning after a damning CNBC investigation that the company has called a "hit piece."

Anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera showed up at the swanky Boca Raton Resort and Club in Florida, where the company had twice said it would hold its annual shareholders meeting only to cancel at the last minute. The hotel reportedly said no meeting rooms had ever been booked under the name Riot Blockchain.

When she arrived at Riot Blockchain’s office, Caruso-Cabrera found CEO John O’Rourke, who promptly shut the door on her before agreeing to talk off camera.

Riot Blockchain CEO shuts door on CNBC reporter

In regards to cancelling the meeting, O’Rourke, who owns 52,000 shares — or 0.45% of the company — told Business Insider in an interview that Riot Blockchain "did not have a quorum of shareholders required for a vote" and that this was not uncommon among public companies. The meeting's cancellation was publicly announced.

Riot Blockchain was originally a biotechnology company known as Bioptix. Its stock price more than tripled after announcing a pivot to blockchain in early October.

O’Rourke, who joined the company in January, according to LinkedIn, was accused of using the name change for personal gain after selling roughly 30,000 shares for just over $800,000** when the stock was near near its all-time high of $28.

"I sold less than 10% of my overall position to assist with covering tax obligations as a result of so-called phantom income tax rom the vesting of restricted stock awards," he told Business Insider. "I am not wealthy and am working to build a business here."

On its most recent quarterly earnings report in November, Riot Blockchain reported a loss of $0.98 per share.

The stock is down 49.8% so far this year.

*An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the value of the stock sold by O'Rourke in December 2017.

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