Jump to content

InfoSpace: Difference between revisions

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
TM not required
Blucora (talk | contribs)
14 edits
→History: See New Management - all copy is included under that headline to chronologically include Shareholder Lawsuit headline
Line 31: Line 31:


By June 2002, the company's stock price, which reached $1,305 in March 2000,<ref>[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/art/news/business/infospace/infospaceTimelineDay1_2_intro.swf The two faces of InfoSpace, 1998–2001]</ref> had dropped to $2.67.<ref name=seattletimes>{{cite news |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002198103_dotcon1main06.html |title=Dot-con job: How InfoSpace took its investors for a ride: Business & Technology: The Seattle Times |accessdate=March 2, 2008 | first1=David | last1=Heath | date=March 6, 2005}}</ref>
By June 2002, the company's stock price, which reached $1,305 in March 2000,<ref>[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/art/news/business/infospace/infospaceTimelineDay1_2_intro.swf The two faces of InfoSpace, 1998–2001]</ref> had dropped to $2.67.<ref name=seattletimes>{{cite news |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002198103_dotcon1main06.html |title=Dot-con job: How InfoSpace took its investors for a ride: Business & Technology: The Seattle Times |accessdate=March 2, 2008 | first1=David | last1=Heath | date=March 6, 2005}}</ref>

In December 2002, Jim Voelker took over Naveen Jain's role as Chairman, CEO and President of InfoSpace. Voelker quickly shut down or sold many of InfoSpace's 12 businesses, and focused on five core segments.

In 2003, InfoSpace acquired Moviso<ref>[http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/ArticleReader.aspx?ArticleID=5659 ''InfoSpace Acquires Moviso'' on EContentMag.com]</ref> from [[Vivendi Universal]] Net USA. Moviso provides [[ringtone]]s, [[Mobile wallpaper|wallpaper]]s and video games, usually accessed through a [[mobile phone|mobile handset]] enabling [[wireless carrier]]s to charge a fee for these downloads.

In early March 2003, InfoSpace sued Jain for allegedly violating noncompete agreements in his role at newly founded Intelius. In an interview after the suit was filed, Jain said the lawsuit was without merit and was a retaliation for Jain's whistle-blowing.<ref name="PSBJ Ties">{{cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2003/04/28/daily5.html|title=InfoSpace severs final ties with founder Jain|publisher=[[Puget Sound Business Journal]]|date=April 28, 2003|accessdate=June 7, 2011}}</ref> In April 2003, he resigned from the InfoSpace board.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Former-InfoSpace-CEO-faces-200-million-fine-1114943.php |title=Former InfoSpace CEO faces $200 million fine |publisher=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|date=May 16, 2003| accessdate=June 7, 2011}}</ref>

In 2004, InfoSpace acquired [[Eugene Lee (entrepreneur)|Switchboard]], which is now owned by Verizon spin-off Idearc Media, and overshadowed by Idearc's SuperPages. It also moved into the mobile games space, acquiring Atlas Mobile, [[IOMO]] and elkware.<ref name=AtlasMobile>{{cite news |url= http://www.gamespot.com/news/6101765/infospace-acquires-atlas-mobile |title= InfoSpace acquires Atlas Mobile |author= Benjamin Golze |date= July 1, 2004}}</ref>

InfoSpace reported $249 million in revenue in 2004 — up 89 percent from the previous year and more than Jain ever achieved in the company's dot-com heyday. http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2002200296_dotcon3today08.html <ref name="SeattleTimes4">Heath, David; Pian Chan, Sharon; ''Dot-con Job: Part 3: The Aftermath – Unusual ally: SEC'', [[The Seattle Times]]'', 2005</ref><ref name="SeattleTimes5">''[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2008831296_apscotusinfospace.html Court turns down appeal from Infospace founder,]'' The Seattle Times, March 9, 2009.</ref><ref>http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1068875/000119312504219392/dex991.htm</ref>

September 2006, InfoSpace released news<ref>[http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1068875/000119312506194056/d8k.htm Form 8-K] from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website</ref> that a carrier partner would be working directly with major [[recording label]]s thus negatively impacting their [[core business]]. Following this carrier/label arrangement, InfoSpace sold the Moviso mobile content business to [[FunMobility]], Atlas Mobile studio to Twistbox<ref>[http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/25450/Twistbox-snaps-up-Infospace-studio Twistbox snaps up Infospace studio] from www.mobile-ent.biz</ref> and [[IOMO]] re-emerged as [[FinBlade]]<ref>[http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/28432/Finblade-opens-its-doors FinBlade opens its doors] from www.mobile-ent.biz</ref> The remaining portions of InfoSpace Mobile were acquired by [[Motricity]] in December 2007.

Between May 2007 and January 2008, the company paid shareholders $500 million in special dividends, or $15.30/share.<ref name="dismantle"/><ref name="results2007">[http://investor.infospaceinc.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=292194 InfoSpace Announces Fourth quarter and Full Year 2007 Results] from the InfoSpace investor's website</ref> Infospace.com began redirecting to [[SuperPages]] in 2009; Superpages had acquired InfoSpace's directory services in 2007.<ref>http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070917005417&newsLang=en</ref>

In 2008, industry analysts believed InfoSpace was gradually dismantling itself.<ref name="dismantle">{{cite web |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/technology/23infospace.html?ref=business |title=Once an Internet Giant, InfoSpace Dismantles Itself |accessdate=July 1, 2008 |work=The New York Times |date=June 23, 2008}}</ref>

In February 2009, Jim Voelker retired as CEO and president yet remained on the company's board as chairman. From February 2009 to November 2010, Will Lansing served as President and CEO of InfoSpace. Under Lansing's leadership, InfoSpace started an online auction website called haggle.com.<ref name=Haggle1>{{cite news |url= http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2009/11/infospace_getting_into_ecommerce_business_with_haggle.html |title= Exclusive: InfoSpace gets into ecommerce biz with Haggle |author= Eric Engleman |date= November 24, 2009}}</ref> A year later, it shut down the website and sold its assets to BigDeal.com.<ref name=Haggle2>{{cite news |url= http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2010/11/infospace-shuts-down-haggle-sells.html |title= Exclusive: InfoSpace gets into ecommerce biz with Haggle |author= Eric Engleman |date= November 1, 2010}}</ref>

Blucora's current President and CEO is William J. Ruckelshaus. Ruckelshaus was appointed to this role in November 2010 after serving as a board member since May 2007. On June 2012, the company aquired TaxAct, and to help distinguish its name from its new purchase, and that of its InfoSpace search unit, it rebranded its name to Blucora. The NASDAQ ticker symbol changed to BCOR. <ref>http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2018372692_blucora07.html</ref>


== Shareholder lawsuit ==
== Shareholder lawsuit ==

Revision as of 19:48, 12 October 2012

BLUCORA
Type of businessPublic Corporation (Nasdaq: BCOR)
FoundedMarch 1996
Headquarters
Bellevue, Washington
,
USA
Founder(s)Naveen Jain, Jean-Remy Facq, Sanjay Kohli, Punam Agrawal, Richard Openheimer, Anu Jain
Key peopleWilliam J. Ruckelshaus (President and CEO)
Servicesmetasearch and private-label Internet search
Revenue$228.8 million for FY2011[1]
URLhttp://www.blucora.com/

Blucor (formerly Infospace, Inc.) (Nasdaq: BCOR) (sometimes misinterpreted as "BlueCora") InfoSpace, Inc. changed its name to Blucora and its NASDAQ ticker symbol from INSP to BCOR in June 2012. This name change reflected the company's evolution as the owner of two online businesses, after its acquisition of TaxACT in January 2012 and distinguishes the parent company from its search business operating unit, which is called InfoSpace. [2]

Blucora's InfoSpace business provides metasearch and private-label Internet search services for consumers and online search and monetization solutions to a network of more than 100 global partners. InfoSpace's flagship metasearch site is Dogpile; its other consumer brands are WebCrawler, and MetaCrawler.[3] [3]

Blucora's TaxACT business offers online tax preparation solutions to consumers, business owners and tax professionals. Founded in 1998 and made by 2nd Story Software, in the 2005 tax season, TaxACT became the first to offer free federal tax software and free e-file to all U.S. taxpayers. [4]

History

The company was founded as Infospace in March 1996 by Naveen Jain after he left Microsoft. He served as CEO until 2000. The company, which started with six employees, built an online yellow pages service to be funded through advertising. A set of simple chat rooms (based on HTML and meta refresh) were also available on the site.

InfoSpace went public on December 15, 1998. The company raised $75 million in the offering.[5]

In July 2000, InfoSpace acquired Go2Net. After the merger, Go2Net CEO Russell Horowitz became president of Infospace.[6]

Also, in 2000, InfoSpace used a controversial accounting method to report $46 million in profits when in fact it had lost $282 million. Company executives skirted SEC trading restrictions to sell large blocks of their personal stock.[7]

Jain resumed the role of CEO in 2001,[8] but was forced out by InfoSpace's board as chairman and CEO in December 2002.[9]

By June 2002, the company's stock price, which reached $1,305 in March 2000,[10] had dropped to $2.67.[11]

Shareholder lawsuit

In a shareholder lawsuit filed in 2003, a lower court federal judge ruled that former InfoSpace CEO, Naveen Jain, had purchased shares of Infospace in violation of six month short swing insider trading rules, and issued a $247 million judgment against him, the largest award of its kind at that time.[12] While on appeal in 2005, Jain settled the case for $105 million, while denying liability. Jain's attempt in further litigation against his former lawyers for the loss was dismissed. [13][14][15]

New Management

In December 2002, Jim Voelker took over Naveen Jain's role as Chairman, CEO and President of InfoSpace. Voelker quickly shut down or sold many of InfoSpace's 12 businesses, and focused on five core segments. In 2003, InfoSpace acquired Moviso[12] from Vivendi Universal Net USA. Moviso provides ringtones, wallpapers and video games, usually accessed through a mobile handset enabling wireless carriers to charge a fee for these downloads. In early March 2003, InfoSpace sued Jain for allegedly violating noncompete agreements in his role at newly founded Intelius. In an interview after the suit was filed, Jain said the lawsuit was without merit and was a retaliation for Jain's whistle-blowing.[9] In April 2003, he resigned from the InfoSpace board.[13] In 2004, InfoSpace acquired Switchboard, which is now owned by Verizon spin-off Idearc Media, and overshadowed by Idearc's SuperPages. It also moved into the mobile games space, acquiring Atlas Mobile, IOMO and elkware.[14] InfoSpace reported $249 million in revenue in 2004 — up 89 percent from the previous year and more than Jain ever achieved in the company's dot-com heyday. http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2002200296_dotcon3today08.html [15][16][17] September 2006, InfoSpace released news[18] that a carrier partner would be working directly with major recording labels thus negatively impacting their core business. Following this carrier/label arrangement, InfoSpace sold the Moviso mobile content business to FunMobility, Atlas Mobile studio to Twistbox[19] and IOMO re-emerged as FinBlade[20] The remaining portions of InfoSpace Mobile were acquired by Motricity in December 2007. Between May 2007 and January 2008, the company paid shareholders $500 million in special dividends, or $15.30/share.[21][22] Infospace.com began redirecting to SuperPages in 2009; Superpages had acquired InfoSpace's directory services in 2007.[23] In 2008, industry analysts believed InfoSpace was gradually dismantling itself.[21] In February 2009, Jim Voelker retired as CEO and president yet remained on the company's board as chairman. From February 2009 to November 2010, Will Lansing served as President and CEO of InfoSpace. Under Lansing's leadership, InfoSpace started an online auction website called haggle.com.[24] A year later, it shut down the website and sold its assets to BigDeal.com.[25]

Current CEO, New Acquisition and New Company Name

Blucora's current President and CEO is William J. Ruckelshaus. Ruckelshaus was appointed to this role in November 2010 after serving as a board member since May 2007. On June 2012, the company aquired TaxAct, and to help distinguish its name from its new purchase, and that of its InfoSpace search unit, it rebranded its name to Blucora. The NASDAQ ticker symbol changed to BCOR. [26]

References

  1. ^ "2011 Annual Report". InfoSpace. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
  2. ^ http://investor.blucora.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1181431-12-33701&CIK=1068875
  3. ^ a b [1] from InfoSpace's website
  4. ^ http://www.taxact.com/company/company_aboutus.asp
  5. ^ A Fine IPO for InfoSpace from Wired
  6. ^ InfoSpace to buy Go2Net to expand content delivery
  7. ^ Heath, David (March 7, 2005). "When times got tough, execs hid troubles, dumped stock". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 2, 2008.
  8. ^ "INFOSPACE INC (Form: 8-K, Received: 01/23/2001 17:15:42". google.brand.edgar-online.com. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference PSBJ Ties was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ The two faces of InfoSpace, 1998–2001
  11. ^ Heath, David (March 6, 2005). "Dot-con job: How InfoSpace took its investors for a ride: Business & Technology: The Seattle Times". Retrieved March 2, 2008.
  12. ^ Heath, David (August 23, 2003). "Ex-InfoSpace chief ordered to pay $247 million penalty". Seattle Times. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
  13. ^ Heath, David; Pian Chan, Sharon; Dot-con Job: Part 3: The Aftermath – Unusual ally: SEC, The Seattle Times, 2005
  14. ^ Court turns down appeal from Infospace founder, The Seattle Times, March 9, 2009.
  15. ^ http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1068875/000119312504219392/dex991.htm
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=InfoSpace&oldid=517455563"