Interesting read of a blog entry by Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems.
As a CEO of a public company, it was interesting to see how other more seasoned CEO’s who blog are attempting to have the corporate blog used as a tool for public information releases, as opposed to the standard SEC approved release methods.
To those who may not yet understand, the Securites and Exchange Commission has a set of rules as to how much information, when and how we can make it public as US listed corporations. What Jonathan proposes is that the blog is the most fair way because there is no opt-in, subscription or “preferred” media chosen, there is only in fact one blog area which the company owns and controls.
I think the challenge is that the SEC wants to ensure that as many people as possible see the news using the “traditional” areas they seek it from. Jonathan’s well taken point is that nothing is fairer than the company blog. It would save us loads of time and money and the public which invests or wishes to, would know there is only ONE place they need to go to find the information.
Yet what happens if:
A. The company website is down for a bit and there is no other place on which an immediate investment decision must be made?
B. The company’s CEO is not one to permit vetting or editing by the legal beagles and takes some liberty with verbiage not suitable for such a situation?
C. The “personal” opinions of the CEO color the blog entry not through its particular verbiage, yet through other things that he/she may have written before?
Perhaps this exercise is mostly hypothetical at best to try to play devil’s advocate yet I am sure that with some more experience under my belt as a public company CEO, I’ll understand the hesitations of the SEC and trepidation with which they treat these suggestions.
Nevertheless, I commend Jonathan for taking this natural step, as a publico CEO who is responsible to stakeholders, and how he displays complete respect for that fact in his approach of this “disruptive” proposal. Much to learn…
Sass