Apparently.
Romney has a friend who was manager of Staples — something like that — and who got divorced during Romney’s time at Bain.
The wife got some shares of Staples before it was a household name that were valued at about $2.50 a share. She got half a million shares. Called to testify, apparently Romney agreed that the shares were right-valued, maybe over-valued at that time.
About 2 years later Staples had grown and went public and their shares were then worth about $19 a share.
The accusation apparently is that Romney understated the value of those shares 2 years before they went large.
It’s sort of silly. It’s ignoring about 2 years of growth in a start-up business. It is not unusual for start-ups to go from rags to riches pretty quickly. To me, 2.50 to 19 is not really a rags to riches story. It sounds like sort of reasonable growth one might expect of a business that is making it.
If THIS is the Alred accusation, then this is sheer desperation. Short of the lady saying she was having an affair with Romney, and that never was part of the accusation, I don’t see that this has legs at all.
If stocks are selling for $2.50 a share, then the stock’s value is $2.50 a share. Any prediction as to the stock’s value in 2 years is speculative. Romney could not have taken the stand and testified that the value was anything more than the market rate. Any speculation on the future would not have been admissible evidence.
If this is the worst they have on Romney, then he is as clean as a whistle.