Vinco Ventures, focused on digital media and content technologies, traded lower on Wednesday following a management transition involving the company’s CEO and CFO.
The company announced that Christopher Ferguson, former CEO of Vinco Ventures, agreed to a three-year deal to serve as a senior strategic adviser with Vinco Ventures’ parent company, ZASH Global Media. Lisa King was voted in as the new CEO of Vinco Ventures.
Brett Vroman, former CFO of Vinco Ventures, was appointed CFO of Cryptyde, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vinco Ventures.
The management transition involving the top executives of Vinco Ventures “has been planned for months and months and months,” ZASH Global Media co-founder and chairman Ted Farnsworth told Benzinga’s YouTube show “Power Hour.”
Vinco’s CEO Ferguson is transitioning to ZASH Global Media “to help us to grow the business on that side” and King will be focused on internal operations and execution as the new CEO, Farnsworth said. Ferguson and King have been working together throughout the transition period, he added.
But the announcement of the management transitions caused some confusion.
Farnsworth said it was a result of the filing of multiple 8-K forms on Tuesday night without a press release. The stock fell more than 20% in the after-hours session. Vinco Ventures issued a press release clarifying the transition on Wednesday morning.
“That’s what [short sellers] love to do. Somebody reports the 8-K and they’ll start running with their own stories until we get our press release out and start to clarify the story,” Farnsworth said.
In hindsight, “that was our bad … it really should have gone out with the press release,” he said.
The company’s intention with the transition was to position its management team in a way that would be most beneficial for the companies and the shareholders, Farnsworth explained.
“Our natural thing was to put him in the new subsidiary that we’re spinning out to give it the best chance at success that it could have.”
Farnsworth told Benzinga that “we all were a little shocked” by the stock’s reaction to the 8-K filing.
Vinco Ventures shares were down nearly 18% on Wednesday afternoon to $6.40. The stock has a 52-week high of $12.49.
This story originally appeared on Benzinga. © 2021 Benzinga.com.
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