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theglobe.com nears death
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August 3, 2001: 5:16 p.m. ET
Game property firm seeks asset sale, other options as Web site shuts
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Theglobe.com, which turned in one of the top debuts of any initial public offering, is now looking to sell amidst plans to shut down its Web site and fire half of its staff.
New York-based theglobe.com (TGLO: Research, Estimates) will close down its business Web site, www.theglobe.com, and its small-business Web-hosting site, www.webjump.com, effective Aug. 15.
"Over the past twelve months, we have taken aggressive steps to position theglobe.com for a turnaround or business combination dependant on a rebound in the online advertising sector, but the sector remains severely depressed and there are few signs of a rebound in the near-term," theglobe.com CEO Charles Peck said.
The troubled company plans to cut 60 positions, or 49 percent of its work force. Theglobe.com is also looking for a business combination or selling assets from its game information properties, the company said in a statement.
Founded in 1994 by two Cornell undergraduates, theglobe.com became a symbol of Internet excess. It's IPO in November 1998 turned in one of the strongest performance in history, rising 605.56 percent. VA Linux (LNUX: down $0.06 to $2.20, Research, Estimates) beat that record a year later in December 1999 when it climbed 697.50 percent.
Theglobe.com was originally a Web site through which subscribers could send and receive e-mail, enter a variety of chat rooms and build their own home pages. The company then morphed into a game information property site.
In January 2000, company founders Todd Krizelman and Stephan Paternot stepped down and were replaced by Peck as CEO of the troubled company. 
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