First Look Within
Filled with bitterness, Jonathan Lewis paces back and forth outside his home. He had invested every spare change that remained from his semi-monthly paycheck in Centrusia, a company that went public two years prior. Centrusia had great ambitions of revolutionizing the healthcare industry but it was not difficult for the objective observer to see that the founder’s conceit superseded the company’s stated mission of improving the healthcare experience for patients.
Investors in search of the next great unknown company lined up to buy up shares of the company. Its share price rose from $12/share at its initial public offering to $57/share two years later. Setbacks experienced were quickly downplayed. Centrusia remained steadfast in its grand assertions even when it became clear that they could not deliver on their promise. To keep their dream alive, they manipulated tests and lied to investors about the true state of the company
Jonathan Lewis was one of these investors who believed so much in the hype that he was proud to have been one of the early investors when the stock was still at $12/share.
A recent Wall Street Journal investigative article revealing the true state of the company sent its stock price tumbling from $57/share to $7/share in just three days. After pacing back and forth for an hour, Jonathan Lewis finally found the courage to tell his wife that their $92,000 investment had been reduced to $22,000.
“They lied to me… they have known the truth for a long time but continued lying to investors. I am going to sue them.”
“Why,” his wife asks. “Are they the ones who, blinded by the excitement of gain, invested all our savings into their stock? Look, I am not angry with you but I will be if you let this experience go to waste. First look within yourself for the cause of this predicament before pointing fingers at others. Only then does the experience become meaningful to you.”