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ERnest j. olde and olde discount corp. End up with nothing from their $200 million libel lawsuit over a worth magazine article and then have to pay nearly $7 million in fines. |
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In September 1995 Worth Magazine published two articles about Olde Discount Corp. and its founder, Ernest J. Olde. Shortly thereafter, Olde and his firm filed a defamation lawsuit against various parties connected with the magazine in Canada—but not in the U.S.—seeking $200 million (Canadian) in damages and a ban on republication of the article. Among other points, the lawsuit stated that the stories stood for the false proposition that ``Olde Discount Corp. and Ernest J. Olde cheat their customers.’’ On July 22, 1996, a judge in Windsor, Ontario, permanently stayed the suit, saying that it should have been brought in the U.S. On January 22, 1998, the Court of Appeal for Ontario upheld this ruling without issuing a written opinion. Effective, April 15, 1998, the Olde parties ended the litigation and actually signed away their right to prevent republication anywhere in the world. On September 10, 1998, Ernest J. Olde, Olde Discount Corp. and two executives agreed to pay $7 million in fines to settle U.S. regulatory charges that they—cheat their customers. Olde himself was personally censured—the second time he has been so sanctioned during his career—and suspended from the securities business for 18 months. As is the custom, the Olde parties admitted nothing but promised never ever to do it.
Rarely has a work of journalism been so dramatically vindicated after being so vehemently attacked.
CLICK HERE to read the full text of the original 1995 articles in Worth. (Web site registration may be required.)
CLICK HERE to read the full text of the September 10, 1998, complaint against Olde Discount Corp., Ernest J. Olde and two ex-Olde Discount excutives by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, which levied $5.15 million in fines and meted out censures and suspensions.
CLICK HERE to read the accompanying press release issued by the SEC about these actions.
CLICK HERE to read the September 8, 1998, Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent signed by Olde Discount Corp. and Ernest J. Olde. This includes the text of the complaint by NASD Regulation Inc. and agreement to $1.85 million in lines and other sanctions.
CLICK HERE to read the Statement of Mitigation and Corrective Action by Olde Discount Corp. and Ernest J. Olde filed in connection with the NASD Regulation Inc. fine and other sanctions.
CLICK HERE to read the September 10, 1998, press release issued by NASD Regulation Inc. concerning Olde Discount Corp., Ernest J. Olde and two ex-Olde Discount Corp. executives.
CLICK HERE to read a September 11, 1998, story about the sanctions in the Detroit Free Press, hometown newspaper of Olde Discount Corp. and Ernest J. Olde.
CLICK HERE to read the Bloomberg News account of the sanctions.
CLICK HERE to read a November 1998 Worth magazine article about the fines, suspensions and sanctions meted out against Olde Discount Corp., Ernest J. Olde, and two ex-Olde Discount executives. (Web site registration may be required.)
CLICK HERE to read the November 3, 1998 press release issued by NASD Regulation Inc. concerning an additional $35,000 fine against Olde Discount Corp. and a trader for improper activities.
CLICK HERE to read the complete text of the June 9, 1999, order by the California Department of Corporations declaring an intent to deny broker-dealer licensing of SmartVest Inc., which is owned by Olde Financial Corp.
CLICK HERE to read the complete text of the legal release ending the Olde lawsuit against Worth Magazine, effective April 15, 1998. Olde Discount Corp. and Ernest J. Olde received no money—not one dime—and formally abandoned their efforts to block republication of the material.
CLICK HERE to read a July 1998 Worth Magazine article about the lawsuit’s termination. (Web site registration may be required.)
CLICK HERE to read the July 22, 1996, ruling by a judge in Windsor, Canada, that Olde Discount Corp. and Ernest J. Olde brought their lawsuit against Worth Magazine in the wrong country.
CLICK HERE to read the September 1, 1999, press release announcing the sale of Olde Financial Corp. to H & R Block for $850 million in cash.
CLICK HERE to read the text of the agreement selling Olde Financial Corp. to H & R Block for $850 million. CLICK HERE to read a summary of the September 19, 1999, story in The New York Times about how H & R Block was unaware until late in the due diligence process that Ernest J. Olde had given up his U.S. citizenship.
CLICK HERE to read the H & R Block press release announcing completion of the acquisition of Olde Financial Corp.
CLICK HERE to read a January 13, 2000, story in the Detroit Free Press that H & R Block has decided to eliminate the Olde name from the operations it acquired.
CLICK HERE to read the write-up of Ernest J. Olde on the Forbes Four Hundred List of the richest Americans issued October 1997, where he ranked No. 236.
CLICK HERE to read the write-up of Ernest J. Olde on the Forbes Four Hundred List of the richest Americans issued October 1998, where he ranked No. 306.
CLICK HERE to read that Ernest J. Olde was dropped from the Forbes Four Hundred List of the richest Americans issued October 1999, apparently because he gave up his U.S. citizenship.
CLICK HERE to read his paid death notice in The New York Times on August 23, 2002, reporting that he died on August 4, 2002, at age 64.
CLICK HERE to read about how H&R Block sold off what’s left of Olde Discount Corp. in 2008 for a fraction of what it paid Ernest J. Olde. |