Deutsche Bank forces coffee mogul Stiller to sell 14 May 2012Vermont Reporter: Georgina Lavers
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Company founder of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Robert Stiller was forced by his bankers to sell $125.5 million of stock after borrowing against his own shares.
After the company’s stock fell 48 percent, lenders started to demand more collateral on outstanding loans.
The sale cut Stiller’s stake to 5.4 percent from nearly 10 percent in March, with the company's board removing the 68-year-old of as chairman and publicly condemning the transaction, saying it was inconsistent with the company's internal trading policies.
Stiller bought a coffee shop in a Vermont ski town in 1981, which grew into Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, with Forbes estimating his wealth to be $1.3 billion as of September 2011.
He resigned as chief executive in 2007, and just a year later pledged 46 percent of his stock as collateral for loans.
Stiller later sold his 12 percent stake in Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, raising close to $50 million.
He blamed his bankers at Deutsche Bank for the sales, who slashed how much he said he could borrow against his stock, and then required him to put up more cash after tumbling share prices following a discouraging earnings report.
Stiller denies any wrongdoing and claims that he did not break any regulations or laws.
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