UPDATED: Jay Westerdal and Thought Convergence Part Ways
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
Name Intelligence founder leaves company.
Jay Westerdal, founder of Name Intelligence, has left Thought Convergence.
Thought Convergence, parent company of TrafficZ, acquired Name Intelligence LLC last year. The acquisition included the popular DomainTools.com site. Westerdal remains with Name Intelligence, Inc. a holding company.
Reached by phone this afternoon, Westerdal said his departure stems from a payment dispute over the acquisition.
“Thought Convergence was not able to pay the full amount they had been obligated to pay on the anniversary of the first part of the purchase,” said Westerdal. Thought Convergence bought Name Intelligence in May 2008. “They have another payment due in 2010.” Westerdal said he is considering legal action.
Thought Convergence said it will issue a formal statement later today. Thought Convergence issued a formal statement Wednesday evening, stating that Westerdal’s termination was unrelated to a dispute over the acquisition of Name Intelligence. The company also said it has enough money to pay for the acquisition and the balance of what it owes has been placed in escrow with its law firm.
Clarification: lots of people asked if Westerdal was fired. In both an e-mail to colleagues and in our phone conversation, he said he was indeed terminated.
Related posts:
- Thought Convergences Releases Statement about Westerdal Termination
- Jay Westerdal Launches Counterclaims Against Thought Convergence
- Thought Convergence Amends Lawsuit Against Westerdal
Tags: jay westerdal, thought convergence
Pretty unfortunate to see this things happen.. But Rick Schwartz private board was closed because Jay drove Rick Schwartz crazy, and many of us lost out on a useful resource… Karma is a bitch
LOL
I liked Jay and I will miss him. He provided a number of good things beneficial to all in the industry. I didn’t appreciate being ignored by him on several occaisions, but I know that important people are often too busy to respond to small players with their petty questions or comments.
Funny comment about the Rick Schwartz private board though, I had not heard about that. But doesn’t that reflect poorly on Rick Schwartz, or the board itself? I mean, I don’t think of Rick being intimidated by anyone in the industry. And if you are willing to shut something down just to be rid of one person, doesn’t that say the board was not worth fighting for…???
Either way, the domain community is fun to watch. I’m kinda glad no one cares about what I do or say…
Chris,
Like many things in life, that is not the whole story. But, I’ll leave it there.
And, yes. Jay was problematic on Rick’s “old” board.
I guess Jay won’t be at Domain Roundtable.
Jay will be using his proceeds to buy TRAFFIC- the show
Sorry to hear. I’m sure Jay won’t have trouble finding his next venture.
Jay is one of the domain industry’s most accomplished and youngest businessman without a doubt who has made a lot of moves over the past few years especially… But what he pulled over at Rick’s board and the consequences — it was really shitty and hundreds of ex-members had a change of heart overnight.
So what is the lesson learned with all of this…. ?
I’m guessing Ammar realized he overpaid for Jay’s company and probably would rather let the deal fail as the assets they acquired aren’t worth much — let the courts sort it out and move on.
>He provided a number of good things beneficial to all in
>the industry.
Is there a list somewhere I missed?
Ever hear of Domain Tools?
[...] Articles Thought Convergence Sues WesterdalJay Westerdal and Thought Convergence Part WaysParava Transition to Hover Has StartedTelFeeder Populates .Tel Domain NamesICANN.gone? Internet [...]
Surprising news indeed!
[...] Convergences Releases Statement about Westerdal TerminationThought Convergence Sues WesterdalJay Westerdal and Thought Convergence Part WaysParava Transition to Hover Has StartedTelFeeder Populates .Tel Domain NamesICANN.gone? Internet [...]
Jay is psycho
>Ever hear of Domain Tools?
One thing does not make “a list”. Nor was it “beneficial to all in the industry”, so try again sunshine.
>Surprising news indeed!
Why?
>Jay is psycho
The Domain Industry’s Milli Vanilli ?
ICANN’s new gTLD process is sure pulling them out of the woodwork.
I guess he’ll have to blame it on the rain!
Drewbert, agreed. Domain Tools is capitalizing on our personal information and that is hardly beneficial to everyone
And totally against WHOIS policy. But, hey, when has ICANN ever done anything about it?
[...] is not related to the pending dispute about last year’s purchase of Name Intelligence, LLC. Domain Name Wire later revealed a pending lawsuit from TCI against Jay Westerdal, his father Per W…. The suit is for alleged breach of securities exchange agreement, breach of employment and [...]
Was TrafficZ ever more than a shill?
Drewbert: is the answer: nothing?
[...] is not related to the pending dispute about last year’s purchase of Name Intelligence, LLC. Domain Name Wire later revealed a pending lawsuit from TCI against Jay Westerdal, his father Per W…. The suit is for alleged breach of securities exchange agreement, breach of employment and [...]
Westerdal is a smart entrepreneur. Domain tools is a highly useful tool to law enforcement, and victims of fraud, theft, scams, trademark infringement, etc. Unless you’ve been a victim of a thief you may not understand the usefulness of such a tool. But then again many of you are sitting on, and profiting from domains infringing on the trademarks of “real” companies, so you’ll likely disagree and whine about the “privacy concerns”. If you are so concerned about your personal privacy go rent a mail drop, and file a dba or incorporate.
Last time I check Schwartz’s blog it was nothing but whining anyway.