New CEO named at LV Internet firm

David Strow

Friday, Oct. 27, 2000 | 11:28 a.m.

Prominent Las Vegas businessman Robert Forbuss has been named chief executive officer of a Las Vegas-based Internet firm.

Forbuss, the chairman of the board of directors of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, was appointed CEO of Preference Technologies Inc. on Thursday. Forbuss replaces Michael Calderone, who was named vice chairman of the company.

Forbuss, who also serves as secretary/treasurer of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, will take over a company attempting to get through a tough start-up period.

"We've been working very closely with Mr. Forbuss over the past year," said company spokesman Clinton Pope. "His experience in business and the local community is exemplary, and after speaking with him and the executive staff, we felt he was the best choice for the CEO position."

Forbuss could not be reached for comment this morning.

Preference has designed a software product that "fetches" sports, financial information and other news from across the Internet and delivers it to a user's computer. The product is licensed to Internet website operators, who would use the product to increase visitor traffic and retain users.

In the quarter ending June 30, the last reported by the company, Preference posted a loss of $3.3 million on revenues of only $5,000. The company lost $3.4 million the quarter before.

As of June 30, the company reported it had just $5,000 in cash, after burning through $5.33 million in cash over the first six months of 2000. However, the company was able to cover all but $28,000 of this cash burn by private placements of stock.

In an attempt to slow down its cash use, the company laid off 25 of its 200 employees in June. At that time, the company also pulled back from an effort to have its over-the-counter shares listed on the Nasdaq exchange. The company cited tough market conditions for its withdrawal.

Since that time, employment has fallen to 135, Pope said. However, he said the reduction came through attrition, not layoffs.

Despite these difficulties, Pope said the move shouldn't be construed as a force-out of Calderone.

"Michael Calderone always said there's a time to move forward and for certain individuals to take the company to the next level," Pope said. "It wasn't so much a force-out, it was just an expected transition. It was just a matter of when it was going to happen."

Forbuss, the founder and former owner and CEO of Mercy Medical Services, was elected to Preference's board earlier this year. Last September, his J&B Strategic Alliances -- a firm he founded with former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones -- inked a one-year, $36,000 contract to provide public relations services to Preference. Documents filed by Preference with the Securities and Exchange Commission did not indicate if Forbuss holds any stock in the company.

The man Forbuss will replace at Preference, Calderone, controlled 57 percent of the company's stock as of May 19. Calderone had an agreement with Preference entitling him to payment of $225,000 a year in salary; it is not known if that agreement will continue with his new position.

Preference closed Thursday at $1.47, well off its 52-week high of $15.13, reached in February.