The Collected Chatroom Works of Whole Foods' Bard

It's amazing that the myriad duties of a CEO allowed Mackey to find time to troll the message boards at all. He asked one of his detractors in a Feb. 18, 1999, post: "Why are you on this board if you think WFMI management are a bunch of idiots? Don't you have anything better to do with your time?"

Ouch.

And in a Sept. 14, 2005, post, he defended his amateur status:

Where do you come up with the crazy idea that I'm a paid poster? I spend about 15 minutes a day on this Board 2 or 3 days a week -- less than an hour a week. What other Boards do I post on? OATS once a month maybe. I guess since you are incapable of intelligently arguing against my positions you are restricted to making things up and calling me names. O.k. do it, if it makes you happy.

Mackey also took to defending himself and his performance as CEO on the boards. In one post, from April 28, 2000, however, the defense was all about his personal appearance, particularly his hairstyle:

I like Mackey's haircut. I think he looks cute! If his hair bothers you now you should have seen what it looked like 10 years ago! The guy was/is clearly into alternative lifestyles and is one of Paul Ray's Cultural Creatives I outlined in my 2 posts to Hedge.

You must not patronize any of WFMI's stores. Tatoos, piercings, unusual dress, and interesting haircuts are everywhere in the stores. In comparison, Mackey looks like a model for Brooks Brothers!

Mackey ended his run as rahodeb on Aug. 12, 2006. In his final post that day he wrote:

This will be my final message on this bulletin board as I have lost my bet with hubris12000. Congratulations hubris! You win. I lose. I will honor the terms of our bet.

The learning from this bet is to never underestimate the manic/depressive nature of Mr. Market. Whole Foods had a very strong quarter with same store sales up 9.9% on top of a 15.2% increase last year -- phenomenal results. In addition EPS were up 27% over last year and the company beat earnings estimates by 3 cents. However, Mr. Market hit the panic button and the stock has crashed, down almost 40% from its high of just a few months ago. Whole Foods itself has a very bright future and I will continue to hold my stock for a very long time -- until the growth begins to significantly slow.

I've enjoyed my 8 years on this Board, but all things must come to an end. I wish everyone the very best. Hog152 -- keep the faith. liberfar -- good luck with your market timing game. hubris12000 -- take your profits while you can, Whole Foods remains very strong and the stock will show continued strong growth over the long-term. Surgeon General and Boston Cowboy -- you were both right about my true identity all along. Congratulations on your cleverness.

Take care everyone. Goodbye.

To read the full selection, check out The Best Collected Works of John Mackey on Stockpickr blog.

1 What would best describe your stance heading into the coming week of trading? Bullish Bearish Neutral 2 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move up in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities 3 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move down in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities View the results without voting

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints