Troubled Stamps.comissued a terse statement today saying that
its former chief executive officer, John Payne, who had remained with the
company as a director, has resigned from the board.
The online postage company said Payne is also resigning his position on the
board of directors of EncrypTix Inc., a majority-owned subsidiary of
Stamps.com.
The statement contained no explanation. Payne served as chief executive
officer of Stamps.com from August 1998 to October 2000.
Online postage has proven to be a tough business model in which to succeed;
rival E-Stamp exited the postage business late in November, saying it would
instead concentrate on its Web-based shipping and logistics solutions.
Deep-pocketed Pitney Bowes is the other competitor in this space.
Stamps.com, which has never made any money, was trading at $2.37 this
morning. At one time its stock was in the $98 range.
The company laid
off 240 workers in October, two weeks after Payne and several other top
execs all
quit.
Marvin Runyon, former U.S. postmaster general, continues in his role as
chairman of Stamps.com. Bruce Coleman remains as CEO there and Jim Rowan
continues as president and CEO of EncrypTix.