trashing Overstock.com. (Sam Antar denies he has a short position in Overstock.com.) Byrne, the subject of Antar’s research, comes from a reputable family. His father, John Byrne , was former chairman of Berkshire Hathaway’s GEICO subsidiary. Patrick Byrne isn’t your typical dot-com CEO: He took over as CEO of Overstock.com in 1999,