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Kim Dotcom plans £109m Mega listing on New Zealand stock exchange

45 points by thewhitetulip 13y ago

caractacus 13y ago
Why would anyone invest in a web site launched by a man currently fighting extradition which operates in much the similar fashion to his previous web site that was seized by a massive international law enforcement operation? Granted, the FBI et al are in no mood to go forward with a similar operation any time soon given the mess that they are in with the first one but there are so many risks here - and so little prospect of decent money - that you'd need to consider your money expendable to put it into this company. And TRS plan to buy the company by issuing shares in it - so they face no risk; they'll simply raise the money from share buyers.
- ycaspirant 13y ago
  You claim that the new website (mega.co.nz) operates in "much the similar fashion to his previous website," but I don't think that's true. The new website is nothing like megaupload / megavideo. The new website is much more comparable to websites like dropbox / box / onedrive. If you disagree, could you please explain what makes mega.co.nz so radically different from services like dropbox / box / onedrive / etc. ?
  - kayoone 13y ago
    A founder and main public figure with a decade long criminal history, maybe.
- markovbling 13y ago
  Vice did a great profile on Kim that focused on his new Mega project - worth a watch even if just for entertainment value and might just change your mind :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMxhIfG0MpY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMxhIfG0MpY
RankingMember 13y ago
I think Kim Dotcom is a hilarious character that reminds me of a fat Austrian Hank Scorpio, but I wouldn't invest more than a giggle of money in Mega with the way law enforcement has tripped over themselves trying to crush him.
- mattgibson 13y ago
  The fact that he's still going despite their trying to crush him suggests that he may be a good bet.
  - skrause 13y ago
    This is what you get when following his investments: In 2001, Schmitz bought €375,000 worth of shares of the nearly bankrupt company Letsbuyit.com (de) and subsequently announced his intention to invest €50 million in the company. The announcement caused the share value of Letsbuyit.com to jump and Schmitz cashed out, making a profit of €1.5 million. One commentator suggested that Schmitz may have been ignorant of the legal ramifications of what he had done, since insider trading was not made a crime in Germany until 1995, and until 2002 prosecutors also had to prove the accused had criminal intent. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Dotcom#Criminal_investigations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Dotcom#Criminal_investigati...
  - atomical 13y ago
    I wouldn't say that an element of risk is an advantage.
davidgerard 13y ago
The amazing thing is that Hollywood and the US government managed to make a colourful racing identity like Kim Dotcom look like the good guy.
- happyscrappy 13y ago
  We will see if investors are foolish enough to go along with that idea.
kayoone 13y ago
I bet Kim enjoys himself a lot these days. Now, this guy with a long history of shady businesses and convicted crimes is suddenly the good guy. He plays his part, but do me favor and don't invest any money into one of this guys endeavors or you will be thoroughly disappointed.
- mlieberman85 13y ago
  Exactly. My girlfriend worked for Megaupload for a few years and said the whole copyright infringement stuff is just the tip of the iceberg. His big business was laundering money for European organized crime. This man is no folk hero.
  - this_user 13y ago
    We should also never forget how he operated a BBS in the 90's and recorded user data. When he was eventually arrested for calling card fraud, he used that data to strike a deal and buy his freedom while completely selling out his users.

45 points by thewhitetulip 13y ago

Why would anyone invest in a web site launched by a man currently fighting extradition which operates in much the similar fashion to his previous web site that was seized by a massive international law enforcement operation? Granted, the FBI et al are in no mood to go forward with a similar operation any time soon given the mess that they are in with the first one but there are so many risks here - and so little prospect of decent money - that you'd need to consider your money expendable to put it into this company. And TRS plan to buy the company by issuing shares in it - so they face no risk; they'll simply raise the money from share buyers.

ycaspirant 13y ago
You claim that the new website (mega.co.nz) operates in "much the similar fashion to his previous website," but I don't think that's true. The new website is nothing like megaupload / megavideo. The new website is much more comparable to websites like dropbox / box / onedrive. If you disagree, could you please explain what makes mega.co.nz so radically different from services like dropbox / box / onedrive / etc. ?
- kayoone 13y ago
  A founder and main public figure with a decade long criminal history, maybe.
markovbling 13y ago
Vice did a great profile on Kim that focused on his new Mega project - worth a watch even if just for entertainment value and might just change your mind :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMxhIfG0MpY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMxhIfG0MpY

RankingMember 13y ago

I think Kim Dotcom is a hilarious character that reminds me of a fat Austrian Hank Scorpio, but I wouldn't invest more than a giggle of money in Mega with the way law enforcement has tripped over themselves trying to crush him.

mattgibson 13y ago
The fact that he's still going despite their trying to crush him suggests that he may be a good bet.
- skrause 13y ago
  This is what you get when following his investments: In 2001, Schmitz bought €375,000 worth of shares of the nearly bankrupt company Letsbuyit.com (de) and subsequently announced his intention to invest €50 million in the company. The announcement caused the share value of Letsbuyit.com to jump and Schmitz cashed out, making a profit of €1.5 million. One commentator suggested that Schmitz may have been ignorant of the legal ramifications of what he had done, since insider trading was not made a crime in Germany until 1995, and until 2002 prosecutors also had to prove the accused had criminal intent. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Dotcom#Criminal_investigations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Dotcom#Criminal_investigati...
- atomical 13y ago
  I wouldn't say that an element of risk is an advantage.

davidgerard 13y ago

The amazing thing is that Hollywood and the US government managed to make a colourful racing identity like Kim Dotcom look like the good guy.

happyscrappy 13y ago
We will see if investors are foolish enough to go along with that idea.

kayoone 13y ago

I bet Kim enjoys himself a lot these days. Now, this guy with a long history of shady businesses and convicted crimes is suddenly the good guy. He plays his part, but do me favor and don't invest any money into one of this guys endeavors or you will be thoroughly disappointed.

mlieberman85 13y ago
Exactly. My girlfriend worked for Megaupload for a few years and said the whole copyright infringement stuff is just the tip of the iceberg. His big business was laundering money for European organized crime. This man is no folk hero.
- this_user 13y ago
  We should also never forget how he operated a BBS in the 90's and recorded user data. When he was eventually arrested for calling card fraud, he used that data to strike a deal and buy his freedom while completely selling out his users.