Daily deals kingpin Groupon is no stranger to financial gymnastics: the company was forced to issue a parade of financial restatements on the road to its initial public offering.
But the math problems didn't end there. In March, the company revealed more Groupon customers demanded more refunds than anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2011. That forced the company to go back and retroactively beef up its reserve fund, cutting levels of previously announced sales and widening its losses.
That was just the start of a bad year for Groupon. Though shares rallied in November after a hedge fund bought a nearly 10% stake in the company, the stock has still fallen almost 80% year-to-date. The woeful performance led to rumors that CEO Andrew Mason could be let go -- and Mason himself conceded that "it would be weird for the board not to be asking that question." -- Julianne Pepitone
