The Flamboyant president and CEO of Microworkz.com, Rick Latman, is stepping down, to let some one more experienced in the art of selling PCs head up the company he founded. The move comes just as the Seattle, Washington-based company is preparing to ship its high profile iToaster $200 PC – the machines are expected to hit the streets at the end of next week. Separately, the company has announced that it will offer nationwide free internet access in the US from October.
Mark Palmer, a spokesperson for Microworkz, explained that Latman – who started his career selling wedding dresses – was simply not experienced enough in the PC market. The company made the announcement now, Palmer said, in order to start looking for a replacement with long experience in the computer and internet industry. Latman will leave the post on or before November 15, but he will remain as chairman of the board.
Palmer denied that Latman’s move had anything to do with the recent legal wrangling between Earthlink Networks Inc and Microworkz. Earthlink filed for breach of contract against Microworkz early this month. Microworkz had said that it would file litigation against Earthlink in retaliation. However, the company has not taken any action as yet. Palmer insisted that a suit is still pending.
Even if the legal spat had nothing to do with Latman’s stepping down, his company still appears to be trying to distance itself from him. During his tenure as CEO, Latman regularly posted open letters on the Microworkz web site – including one on the souring of the Earthlink deal – when we checked yesterday, the letters had all been removed from the site.
