CEO used internet to bring down rival shares

Whole Foods Market boss John Mackey wrote a series of attacks against the smaller Wild Oats Markets under a fake name. He said that the company stock was overpriced and predicted it would be bankrupted.

The doom-saying posts were made between 1999 to 2006 and Mackey has admitted making them. However this year his company decided to buy Wild Oats.

According to Bloomberg, it is unlikely that Mackey's internet rants did anything to stuff up Wild Oats' share prices and the move is being blocked by the FCC on anti-trust grounds.

Whole Foods defended Mackey's postings, saying they were being taken out of context years later.

Mackey has been using his company's bog to attack the FTC's attempt to block his company's purchase of Wild Oats. This is apparently unusual in the business world where it is never a good idea to hack off the regulators. µ

More here [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=arBE3wOOTTQc&refer=home]