He (and others) will blame the fans though, despite the takeover (after which he "hoped to stay on") becoming an investment then became a loan, several weeks before the protest.
I don't blame the fans, but I still don't think FPP were driving the 'takeover' element and this isn't anyone's fault.
* Below is just my interpretation, don't be an arse if you disagree, I'm happy to discuss it *
From everything that's been said - and I accept that people don't want to believe Donald, but some of it is borne out in how it's played out since - FPP came on wanting to do the loan-then-equity type of deal that would give them maximum flexibility to either jump in with two feet later, or cut their losses if Donald's plan didn't look like coming to fruition.
I think from what he said at Christmas, it sounds a lot like he tried to convince them to buy in outright, possibly even take a majority shareholding. At that point, he somehow ended up doing a talk-in and because it was during that weird 'we should have something for you in a few weeks' period, he ended up saying stuff that was hypothetical, like for example when he talked about whether they would keep him on.
Ultimately they decided for their own reasons to stick with what he says was their original plan of the loan.
Donald's major flaw in this appears to have been getting carried away and trying to build momentum for a takeover bid without actually knowing if they were going to do it. I think he loved the excitement around Dell and the way it reflected on him bringing these A+++ rated buyers to the table, so he was happy to keep the fan expectations up. When they said no, he was left with a situation where what should have still looked like a good deal for us looked underwhelming because it wasn't FULL TAKEOVER.
Can only speak for myself but I don't blame anyone, even Donald. In the end he did a good deal that was probably the most likely path to us getting FPP as owners in the long run. It looks like that may not pan out, but I don't think he's a terrible evaluator of whether someone has our best interests at heart. I have a feeling he will have tried very hard to get FPP to change their minds since Christmas, but if they don't and he sells to someone else, I think it's only if he thinks they'll make a success of it and he'll get to bask in their reflected glory
You must log in or register to see images