Patrick M. Byrne

[[File:Patrick-Byrne-Mugshot.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Byrne's 2013 mugshot<ref>[https://www.ksl.com/article/23769860/airport-police-overstock-ceo-arrested-for-having-gun-in-luggage Airport police: Overstock CEO arrested for having gun in luggage] by Jasen Lee (Jan 17<sup>th</sup>, 2013 @ 11:12pm) ''KSL.com''</ref>]]
{{politics}}
{{cquote|Never before in the history of Wall Street has a single conference call mentioned the following topics:

Miscreants, an unnamed [[Fun:Star Wars|Sith Lord]] he [Byrne] hopes the feds will bury under a prison, gay bath houses, whether he is [[gay]], does [[cocaine]], both or neither, and an obligatory, not that there is anything wrong with that, phone taps, phone lines misdirected to Mexico, arrested reporters, payoffs, [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracies]], crooks, egomaniacs, fools, [[paranoia]], which newspapers are shills and for who, payoffs, money laundering, his [[Stereotype|Irish temper]], false identities, threats, intimidation, and private investigators. All in 61 minutes.|||investor Mark Cuban in 2005 regarding an Overstock.com shareholder meeting led by Byrne<ref>[http://blogmaverick.com/2005/08/12/wall-street-fact-is-stranger-than-fiction/ Wall Street – Fact is stranger than fiction] by Mark Cuban (August 12, 2005) ''Blog Maverick: The Mark Cuban Blog''.</ref>}}

{{cquote|Byrne raised his hand to talk. He stood up and turned around to face Herschmann. "You're a quitter," he said. "You've been interfering with everything. You've been cutting us off."

"Do you even know who the fuck I am, you idiot?" [then-Senior Advisor to the President, Eric] Herschmann snapped back.

"Yeah, you're Patrick Cipollone," Byrne said.

'''"Wrong! Wrong, you idiot!"'''|||The Trump presidency going further and further off the rails as evidenced by this meeting on December 18, 2020<ref>[https://www.axios.com/2021/02/02/trump-oval-office-meeting-sidney-powell Off the Rails: Inside the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency] by Jonathan Swan, Zachary Basu (Feb 2, 2021) ''Axios''.</ref>}}

'''Patrick Michael Byrne''' {{lived|1962}} is an American businessman, founder and CEO (until 2019) of {{wpl|Overstock.com||,}} and [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] [[kook]]. It may shock one to known that Byrne has a doctorate in [[philosophy]] from Stanford University,<ref>[https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/3409449 Jealousy and confidence: an essay on the limits of authority] by Patrick Michael Byrne (1996) ''Stanford University''.</ref> or it may just cause one decide not to take up philosophy as a field of study or not go to Stanford after all.

Byrne does a lot of jawdroppingly weird stuff in the name of Overstock, and seemed to be allowed to do so by the board as long as he kept making money.

==Naked shorting==
In business, {{wpl|Naked short selling|naked short selling}} is essentially the process of selling shares or assets without actually owning them. Of course, accusing a person or company of naked shorting is a serious allegation, one that most people would not make without a lot of good evidence, but Patrick M. Byrne is not most people. Byrne has, through his company Overstock, filed two lawsuits against the Rocker Partners and the Equities Research Firm, claiming that they both short sold his company and paid for negative press to artificially drive down prices of Overstock.com. As if that weren't enough, Byrne also believes in a sort of banking conspiracy out to destroy his company. He has said, "there's been a plan since we were in our teens to destroy our stock, drive it down to $6--$10 ... and even a plan for how the company would then get whacked up." He has even referred to the leader of the conspiracy as the "sith lord", but for some reason he was unwilling to name any names.<ref>https://archive.today/20120710222214/http://news.com.com/Overstock+CEO+reflects+on+Cramer+debacle/2100-1030_3-6171494.html</ref>

==Education policies==
As a libertarian, Patrick M. Byrne supports a number of questionable economic policies, including a restriction requiring all public schools to spend 65% of funds on "class education". Unfortunately, librarians, school nurses, school lunches, and bus drivers don't count as class education, meaning that schools would have to cut a number of programs that largely benefit poorer students.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/04/education/04solution.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0</ref> Huh.

Also in the field of education, Byrne has come out as a strong supporter of [[School vouchers|vouchers]] for private school education, strongly criticizing [[Jon Huntsman]] for not supporting the voucher program as much as Byrne had hoped.<ref>http://www.ocregister.com/articles/school-518947-schools-friedman.html</ref>

==Bitcoin==
Byrne is also convinced that [[Bitcoin]] is the economic salvation of America.<ref>http://www.wired.com/2014/02/rise-fall-rise-patrick-byrne/</ref> Overstock was the first major retailer to accept Bitcoin, via a payment processor.<ref>http://www.coindesk.com/overstock-opens-bitcoin-sales/</ref> The company's Bitcoin holdings lost about $100,000 in 2015.<ref>http://www.coindesk.com/overstock-reports-over-100k-in-bitcoin-losses-for-q1-2015/</ref> As of August 2018, Overstock's cryptocurrency subsidiary tZero is now worth more than Overstock itself,<ref>[https://www.ccn.com/overstocks-cryptocurrency-subsidiary-is-now-worth-more-than-the-entire-company/ Overstock’s Cryptocurrency Subsidiary is Now Worth More than the Entire Company] by Josiah Wilmoth (August 10, 2018 21:11) ''CCN.com''.</ref> which could be a bad sign for Overstock, or the sign of another cryptocurrency crash.

==Other nuttery==
Patrick Byrne is a notable [[gun nut]]. At one point, he was arrested for trying to carry a loaded gun through airport security; Byrne claimed that the incident was purely accidental. When asked how he could accidentally put a gun in his bag, he responded, "I keep the gun next to my bed every night". Guns are just like slippers, perhaps? Or… something?

Just before being pushed out of Overstock.com, Byrne claimed to have been [[fucking]] convicted [[Russian]] spy Maria Butina, and that she should become the next president of Russia.<ref>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/maria-butina-and-overstockcom-ceo-patrick-byrne-were-romantically-involved-lawyer Maria Butina and Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne Were 'Romantically Involved': Lawyer] by Julia Arciga (08.15.19 4:18PM ET) ''Daily Beast''.</ref> Byrne admitted to funneling cash to Butina at some point after she was released from prison and deported to Russia in 2019 and before she was elected to the Russian parliament in 2021.<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/pro-trump-former-overstock-ceo-gave-russian-spy-ex-lover-money-2021-9 Patrick Byrne, the pro-Trump former Overstock CEO admits funneling cash to his ex-lover Maria Butina, the glamorous spy expected to be elected to Russia's parliament] by Alia Shoaib (Sep 23, 2021, 1:35 AM) ''Business Insider''.</ref>

==Ex-CEO==
Byrne made several conspiracist claims, including his own involvement in the [[deep state]] and [[men in black]] (supposedly meaning the [[FBI]] and not the usual [[Ufology]]).<ref>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/overstock-ex-ceo-patrick-byrne-goes-on-bonkers-rant-to-fox-business-im-part-of-a-deep-state-conspiracy Overstock Ex-CEO's Bonkers Rant to Fox Business: I'm Part of 'Deep State': Patrick Byrne teared up when he said he felt his involvement in a Deep State conspiracy was partly responsible for the recent mass shootings in the United States.] by Justin Baragona (Updated 08.23.19 4:01AM ET; Published 08.22.19 7:18PM ET) ''Daily Beast''.</ref> His rantings led to Overstock.com's stock tanking and to his resignation as CEO.<ref>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/overstock-stock-plunges-amid-ceo-patrick-byrnes-wacky-deep-state-claims Overstock Stock Plunges Amid CEO’s Wacky 'Deep State' Claims] by Tracy Connor (08.14.19 11:44PM ET) ''Daily Beast''.</ref>

==Contributing to Trump's bullshit electoral fraud claims==
{{main|1=2020 U.S. presidential election|3=2021 U.S. Capitol riot}}

On December 18, 2020, days after the [[Electoral College]] had certified [[Joe Biden]] as the winner of the [[2020 U.S. presidential election]], a group of high-level kooks showed up at the White House. The kooks were not officially invited, but were let in by a junior staffer and gained access to Trump anyway. The kooks included Byrne, Trump's bogus election fraud lawyer Sidney Powell, felon/Lieutenant General [[Michael Flynn]], disbarred Trump personal lawyer [[Rudy Giuliani]], and others. What ensued was a prolonged and heated exchange between the kooks and White House lawyers. The kooks managed to convince Trump that by various connivances, the election could be overturned, even though they knew this would have been illegal and/or unconstitutional. Trump was convinced by the kooks and sent out the notorious "be there, will be wild" tweet in the early morning hours of the 19<sup>th</sup>, setting the stage for incitement of the [[coup]] attempt on January 6<sup>th</sup>, 2021.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2022/07/12/1111123258/jan-6-committee-hearing-transcript Here's every word from the seventh Jan. 6 committee hearing on its investigation] (July 12, 20226:32 PM ET) ''NPR''.</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/13/trump-jan-6-byrne-overstock/ Who is Patrick Byrne, former Overstock CEO and election denier?] by Eugene Scott (July 13, 2022 at 1:48 p.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> At the meeting, Byrne advocated that "the National Guard re-run the elections in those six states" (meaning, of course, the six states where Trump lost by the closest margin) and spouted conspiracy theories about [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref>[https://www.axios.com/trump-oval-office-meeting-sidney-powell-a8e1e466-2e42-42d0-9cf1-26eb267f8723.html "Inside the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency"] by Jonathan Swan and Zachary Basu, Axios, 2021 February 2</ref><ref>[https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2021/02/02/former-overstock-ceo/ "Former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne describes bluffing his way into Trump’s White House"] by Lee Davison, Salt Lake Tribune, 2021 February 2</ref> Byrne was a primary source for funding and fundraising for a May 2021 [[2021 U.S. Capitol riot#The recount that never ends|farcical "recount"]] in Arizona, run by an inexperienced, Trump-worshiping company known as "[[Hacker#Script kiddies|Cyber]] [[mall ninja|Ninjas]]".<ref>[https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-arizona-business-technology-election-recounts-c5948f1d2ecdff9e93d4aa27ba0c1315 "Experts or ‘grifters’? Little-known firm runs Arizona audit"] by Nicholas Riccardi, Associated Press, 2021 May 23</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/29/patrick-byrne-trump-fundraiser-election-conspiracy-theories "Patrick Byrne: pro-Trump millionaire pushing election conspiracy theories"] by Peter Stone, Guardian, 2021 May 29</ref> In June 2021, Byrne produced a "film" and other assorted media entitled "The Deep Rig" with yet more promotions of Trump's [[bullshit]] fraud claims.<ref>[https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/inside-the-shadow-reality-world-promoting-the-lie-that-the-presidential-election-was-stolen/ "The ‘shadow reality world’ promoting the lie that the presidential election was stolen"] by Rosalind S. Helderman, Emma Brown, Tom Hamburger and Josh Dawsey, Seattle Times, reprinted from the Washington Post, 2021 June 24</ref> Unsurprisingly, in spite of his Overstock.com wealth, Byrne also has no qualms at grifting the "true Trump believers" for some of their hard earned cash.<ref>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/overstock-founder-will-sell-you-election-fraud-for-dollar5-per-month "Overstock Founder Will Sell You Election Fraud for $5 Per Month"] by Will Sommer, Daily Beast, 2021 May 24</ref> 

Due to Byrne's prominent role in making these [[bullshit]] claims, on August 10 2021, Dominion Voting Systems filed a lawsuit claiming that Byrne (along with [[Newsmax]] and [[One America News Network]]) defamed the company, seeking 1.6 billion dollars in damages.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/world/us/dominion-sues-newsmax-one-america-news-network-others-over-election-claims-wsj-2021-08-10/ "Dominion sues Newsmax, One America over U.S. election fraud claims"] by Jan Wolfe and Tom Hals, Reuters, 2021 August 10</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
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[[Category:Gun nuts]]
[[Category:Libertarians]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Shysters]]
[[Category:Racists]]
[[Category:Right-wing activists]]

Categories: Conspiracy theorists, Cryptocurrency, Gun nuts, Libertarians, Living people, Politicians, Shysters, Racists, Right-wing activists