Small investors turn on James Watt after BrewDog co-founder admits ‘many mistakes’ | BrewDog
BrewDog founder James Watt has faced wariness from small investors who were left empty-handed when the company was sold for just £33 million after admitting he had made “a lot of mistakes”.
Watt published a it’s my fault via his professional social networking site LinkedIn, a platform he regularly uses to espouse political views, including complaints about the level of tax the multimillionaire and self-described “tramp” is being asked to pay.
He apologized to more than 200,000 “share vagrants” who invested £75 million in the business through multiple crowdfunding rounds but received nothing from its sale to US cannabis and drinks company Tilray Brands.
They lost out, in part, due to the terms of private equity group TSG’s previous 22% investment, which involved Watt and co-founder Martin Dickie cashing out £100 million but with little chance of a return to crowdfunding investors.
Watt also said he was “heartbroken” for the 484 staff who lost their jobs in the deal, as Tilray opted to buy only 11 of BrewDog’s bars, leaving 38 to close their doors.
“During my 17 years in office there have been ups, downs, successes, failures, big gambles and many mistakes,” Watt said.
“After all, mistakes hurt much more than the consolation of success,” he added. “I would love to save every business and every capital rogue investment. In the end, I couldn’t. This will stay with me.”
Union Unite had already criticized the “national disgrace” of the sale, which was carried out through a pre-pack administration that involved administrators agreeing to sell Alix Partners to Tilray in a sale that would cost around 500 jobs before declaring it bankrupt.
On Wednesday, LinkedIn user Fraser Campbell said Watt “walked away from the TSG deal with £50 million, while everyone who gave you their money now has nothing but the taste of sour beer in their mouths.”
John Allison wrote: “Are you ‘heartbroken’ for giving institutional investors preference over capital goons James?”
Another LinkedIn user, Cathal Morrow, questioned Watt’s description of himself as a “tramp” on his LinkedIn profile.
“Actual comment; do you think it’s still appropriate to have the word ‘punk’ in your bio?” he said. “I would say it’s pretty insulting at this point.”
Others were kinder.
“As an early Stock Bum, I never bought shares expecting to get rich,” said Fraser Reid.
“I bought them because I loved the beer, the attitude, and what BrewDog stood for at the time. Building something from a garage to a global brand is no small feat.”
The £33m sale of the £2bn valuation BrewDog once targeted when it hoped to remain listed came less than a month after the firm put itself up for sale.
BrewDog’s decline from its all-conquering peak was further fueled by five years of losses and a series of brand-damaging controversies over the company’s culture and treatment of staff, particularly during Watt’s tenure. Watt later apologized for what some staff described as a “culture of fear”.
Watt also hired private detectives to investigate people featured in the BBC documentary about the allegations.
