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The real gamble was Kodak offering their namesake in a token project for "no direct revenue from the public offering... receive a minority stake in WENN Digital

The real gamble was Kodak offering their namesake in a token project for "no direct revenue from the public offering... receive a minority stake in WENN Digital, 3 percent of all KodakCoins issued and a royalty on future revenue." Minority ownership in a random company owned by a former fraudster and 3% of the tokens with their own name on it? So many things wrong with this. Where is the secret deal that made this happen? Did the Kodak CEO get 40% of the tokens in his personal wallet? For a multi-decade, legacy brand to entrust that guy with their future is rather bizarre. If this fails, it is quite possibly the last nail for Kodak..

empath75 9y ago
Kodak is a zombie.
- syntheticnature 9y ago
  As someone who grew up in the shadow of what once was the "Big Yellow Box" I cannot emphasize this enough -- Kodak has very little still going for it and has shrunk greatly. At this point it's probably worth the gamble to them, as that's how dire things are.
- TylerE 9y ago
  To give a few numbers... At their peak in 1988 they employed 188,000 people, with over 60,000 of those in the Rochester, NY area. Today they employ fewer than 6,000, with only about 1300 in Rochester.
  - boznz 9y ago
    6,000.. Wow! I seriously assumed just a couple of administrators
- matt_s 9y ago
  Kodak is just a brand that they essentially lease out. The various CEO's all shed any businesses that resembled something profitable in attempts to, well I don't know, help shareholders. Another imaging company where Kodak has its HQ is going through a similar but slower downturn. You could say they are ... copying them (sorry). I think when a lot of the baby boomers finally retire from the workforce, office printing will drop off a cliff as far as usage goes.
  - sempron64 9y ago
    Off topic, but I print research papers at work and always feel guilty about it because signs on the printers admonish you to think green... I can't properly read/think about papers otherwise.
mv4 9y ago
Exactly. For them, to team up with WENN on this was insane.
kanzure 9y ago
> For a multi-decade, legacy brand to entrust that guy with their future is rather bizarre. Could it be that you've been playing by different rules? Maybe Kodak was always like this. Who knows.
- TaylorGood 9y ago
  Sure, that is always the case. But the historical process of a board choosing a CEO has no comparison to an external figure running their strategy in a new, largely unregulated, wild wild west industry.
patcheudor 9y ago
>If this fails, it is quite possibly the last nail for Kodak.. The equivalent of the founder taking all the remaining company funds to Vegas and betting it all on black.
- ergothus 9y ago
  Were you referring to FedEx, or just pointing out the riskiness? https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/15/fred-smith-blackjack-fedex_n_1966837.html https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/15/fred-smith-blackja...
  - mstade 9y ago
    Wow, that is one heck of a story! As a business owner, some things come to mind: - How do you explain (to the tax man, really) where the money comes from? - Isn't this a gross misappropriation of company funds, and very much illegal? - How does this guy find pants to fit his enormous balls?
    - chx 9y ago
      The company got an investment from his personal funds. If you are asking about where he as a person got money, Vegas is legal and likely gives tax receipts. He took a loan from the company; if he couldn't pay it back then yeah he is in deep trouble but he could.
      - bonesss 9y ago
        So you're saying it's only a problem if I lose? Well I like those odds ;) This actually triggered a random memory of some court-room drama where a quant embezzled a bunch of money to buy lottery tickets though a system he devised, won, and then got charged after paying back the stolen seed money... in hindsight he woulda gotten away with his fictitious crime if he were a CEO or boardmember...
        chx 9y ago
toomanybeersies 9y ago
Kodak died 6 years ago when they went bankrupt, and split into 2 Kodaks: Alaris and Eastman. EastMan Kodak is the one that we're talking about here. They mostly make money by selling their brand name. That Kodak phone that came out a couple of years back was made entirely by another company, and Kodak just slapped their brand name on it for some cash. Kodak Alaris is the company that makes photographic film (but not cinema film, that's Eastman). They're not going anywhere fast. I think that the number of film shooters, and demand for film, is going to stay relatively constant for the next decade.
- thanatropism 9y ago
  They're not however monopolists. My favourite mid- and high-end lines (in color) are all made by Fuji and high-end BW has been consolidating/merging into a big Ilford/Kentmere conglomerate.
  - leejo 9y ago
    Fuji are killing off their film lines though: http://ffis.fujifilm.co.jp/information/articlein_0072.html http://ffis.fujifilm.co.jp/information/articlein_0072.html These are the 5 packs of Velvia, Provia, and Superia. It's not a good sign, although maybe economically it makes sense? They've also completely killed off Acros in 4x5 and 120, I'm stocking up on the 4x5 boxes.
    - thanatropism 9y ago
      I'm super stocked in Fuji slide stock. A lot of 120, and I don't even have a 120 camera anymore. I also have a box of Agfa CT Precisa, which is like the prettiest slide film for cross-processing. I'm hoping (most of) these can fetch good prices in ~5 years time.
CryptoPunk 9y ago
>>Minority ownership in a random company owned by a former fraudster and 3% of the tokens with their own name on it? So many things wrong with this. The article doesn't say he's a former fraudster. It's irresponsible to throw these kinds of accusations around without solid evidence.

empath75 9y ago

Kodak is a zombie.

syntheticnature 9y ago
As someone who grew up in the shadow of what once was the "Big Yellow Box" I cannot emphasize this enough -- Kodak has very little still going for it and has shrunk greatly. At this point it's probably worth the gamble to them, as that's how dire things are.
TylerE 9y ago
To give a few numbers... At their peak in 1988 they employed 188,000 people, with over 60,000 of those in the Rochester, NY area. Today they employ fewer than 6,000, with only about 1300 in Rochester.
- boznz 9y ago
  6,000.. Wow! I seriously assumed just a couple of administrators
matt_s 9y ago
Kodak is just a brand that they essentially lease out. The various CEO's all shed any businesses that resembled something profitable in attempts to, well I don't know, help shareholders. Another imaging company where Kodak has its HQ is going through a similar but slower downturn. You could say they are ... copying them (sorry). I think when a lot of the baby boomers finally retire from the workforce, office printing will drop off a cliff as far as usage goes.
- sempron64 9y ago
  Off topic, but I print research papers at work and always feel guilty about it because signs on the printers admonish you to think green... I can't properly read/think about papers otherwise.

mv4 9y ago

Exactly. For them, to team up with WENN on this was insane.

kanzure 9y ago

> For a multi-decade, legacy brand to entrust that guy with their future is rather bizarre. Could it be that you've been playing by different rules? Maybe Kodak was always like this. Who knows.

TaylorGood 9y ago
Sure, that is always the case. But the historical process of a board choosing a CEO has no comparison to an external figure running their strategy in a new, largely unregulated, wild wild west industry.

patcheudor 9y ago

>If this fails, it is quite possibly the last nail for Kodak.. The equivalent of the founder taking all the remaining company funds to Vegas and betting it all on black.

ergothus 9y ago
Were you referring to FedEx, or just pointing out the riskiness? https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/15/fred-smith-blackjack-fedex_n_1966837.html https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/15/fred-smith-blackja...
- mstade 9y ago
  Wow, that is one heck of a story! As a business owner, some things come to mind: - How do you explain (to the tax man, really) where the money comes from? - Isn't this a gross misappropriation of company funds, and very much illegal? - How does this guy find pants to fit his enormous balls?
  - chx 9y ago
    The company got an investment from his personal funds. If you are asking about where he as a person got money, Vegas is legal and likely gives tax receipts. He took a loan from the company; if he couldn't pay it back then yeah he is in deep trouble but he could.
    - bonesss 9y ago
      So you're saying it's only a problem if I lose? Well I like those odds ;) This actually triggered a random memory of some court-room drama where a quant embezzled a bunch of money to buy lottery tickets though a system he devised, won, and then got charged after paying back the stolen seed money... in hindsight he woulda gotten away with his fictitious crime if he were a CEO or boardmember...
      - chx 9y ago

toomanybeersies 9y ago

Kodak died 6 years ago when they went bankrupt, and split into 2 Kodaks: Alaris and Eastman. EastMan Kodak is the one that we're talking about here. They mostly make money by selling their brand name. That Kodak phone that came out a couple of years back was made entirely by another company, and Kodak just slapped their brand name on it for some cash. Kodak Alaris is the company that makes photographic film (but not cinema film, that's Eastman). They're not going anywhere fast. I think that the number of film shooters, and demand for film, is going to stay relatively constant for the next decade.

thanatropism 9y ago
They're not however monopolists. My favourite mid- and high-end lines (in color) are all made by Fuji and high-end BW has been consolidating/merging into a big Ilford/Kentmere conglomerate.
- leejo 9y ago
  Fuji are killing off their film lines though: http://ffis.fujifilm.co.jp/information/articlein_0072.html http://ffis.fujifilm.co.jp/information/articlein_0072.html These are the 5 packs of Velvia, Provia, and Superia. It's not a good sign, although maybe economically it makes sense? They've also completely killed off Acros in 4x5 and 120, I'm stocking up on the 4x5 boxes.
  - thanatropism 9y ago
    I'm super stocked in Fuji slide stock. A lot of 120, and I don't even have a 120 camera anymore. I also have a box of Agfa CT Precisa, which is like the prettiest slide film for cross-processing. I'm hoping (most of) these can fetch good prices in ~5 years time.

CryptoPunk 9y ago

>>Minority ownership in a random company owned by a former fraudster and 3% of the tokens with their own name on it? So many things wrong with this. The article doesn't say he's a former fraudster. It's irresponsible to throw these kinds of accusations around without solid evidence.