FTD Alumni in the News

[CHR]

A couple former FTD folks made the news yesterday:

Meg Whitman was named as a potential nominee for Treasury Secretary by John McCain last night in his debate with Obama. Meg was President and CEO under the Perry Capital ownership of the company and remained there for about 2 years. She was President and CEO of eBay for 10 years.

Richard Perry, head of Perry Capital (former owner of FTD) was profiled in Fortune. Gotta say it's a very impressive read.

About his time with FTD:

Perry learned early on the importance of being deeply involved with his investments. One of his first successes running Perry Capital was at FTD, the giant floral-delivery service. In 1994, FTD was a nonprofit cooperative, but it wanted a buyer to turn it into a for-profit business. Perry bought it for around $130 million, with $20 million of his own equity, around $10 million from Bain Capital and Bank of Boston, and the rest borrowed money. It was a contentious deal from the start. The CEO of FTD quit before it went through, wary of various terms. Then there were the angry florists: Many of the 25,000 or so were scared they would lose the power of the network they had depended on. FTD's board approved the deal, but Perry couldn't complete it unless more than half of the member florists were onboard. So Perry went state to state visiting florists, telling them about his plans to spend $12 million a year on advertising and make a big push to get more florists into the network. He got their vote. "It was the first time I'd won anything since I was student council president in the ninth grade," he says. Perry installed Meg Whitman, who later became CEO of eBay, as CEO of FTD (she was recommended by Bain, where she had worked previously). In 2004, Perry sold FTD for $450 million to a private equity firm, making a 28% annualized return on his initial $20 million investment. The FTD experience led Perry into trolling for struggling companies in which to invest in essence, creating his own opportunities.

Interesting these two would make the news on the same day. I'm guessing they both fared better than any one else ever associated with FTD.

 

[shannonlovesflowers]

Even Merlin Olsen?

j/k I couldn't resist

 

[Carol Bice]

I'll never how so many FTD florists couldn't wait to get rid of the Meg Whitman. Most of them I knew treated her terribly. I guess she showed them.
Carol Bice