Taking worship of markets to a new extreme, Mike Merrill decided to sell himself to stockholders, who would be able to vote on most aspects of his life, from romantic relationships to sleep schedules to making him register as a Republican.
Meet the Man Who Sold His Fate to Investors at $1 a Share | Wired Business | Wired.com (Wired Business)
But, like many entrepreneurs before him, Merrill soon learned the downside to taking on outside funding. In the ensuing months and years, 128 people bought shares of Merrill, and he fell victim to competing shareholder interests, stock price manipulation, and investors looking for short-term gains at the expense of his long-term well-being. He was overwhelmed by paperwork and blindsided by takeover interest. He found himself beholden to his shareholders in ways he had never imagined, ruining personal relationships along the way. Through it all, Merrill clung stubbornly to the belief that since an IPO had worked for Google and Amazon, it should work for an individual too.