Thursday, June 22, 2000

Stock's Free Fall Slows Software Magnate's Plan for Online University By SARAH CARR Michael J. Saylor's plans to create an online university that would offer free education all over the world appear to have been put on hold, at least temporarily. Mr. Saylor, the software magnate, has been occupied for the past few months with financial difficulties at his company, MicroStrategy, Inc. At the annual meeting of MicroStrategy's shareholders on Monday, Mr. Saylor said he had had little time to devote to plans for the university, according to an account of the meeting by the Reuters news service. Then, during a live discussion on The Washington Post's Web site on Tuesday, Mr. Saylor reaffirmed his commitment to the project. "The Internet university is alive and well," he said during the chat. "My goal is to initially roll out a cyber-libary of digital video that can be used by any for-profit or nonprofit organization in order to accelerate the free education initiative." Last March, Mr. Saylor announced that he had donated $100-million to create a university that would broadcast courses taught by "famous people" all over the world. During the announcement, Mr. Saylor proposed that he would have Michael Jordan teach a course on how to be a team player, or Steven Spielberg lecture on filmmaking. Reuters reported that Mr. Saylor referred to the university as a "5-to-10-year initiative" at the shareholder meeting, and during the Washington Post chat, he said he envisions that "the entire thing will unfold over about 10 years." But in March, Mr. Saylor said he hoped the first class would be online "within the next year or two." That same month, however, the price of MicroStrategy's stock plunged after Mr. Saylor announced that the company would restate its financial results. That announcement came a week after he had outlined his ideas for a cyber-university. The share price fell from $333 in March to a low of $17 last month, and Mr. Saylor, a major shareholder, personally lost about $11-billion. The Securities and Exchange Commission is currently investigating MicroStrategy's accounting procedures. MicroStrategy officials said Mr. Saylor remains committed to the project, despite the company's financial woes. Mr. Saylor "is as dedicated as ever to the online university, a personal endeavor of his," said Michael Quint, a MicroStrategy spokesman. "You should expect further announcements in the coming months, but right now Saylor is very focused on his job as C.E.O. of MicroStrategy," Mr. Quint added. Background article from The Chronicle: Software Billionaire Aims to Create Free Online University (3/24/2000) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

Physicians who prescribe religion misuse medicine and spirituality, article suggests Presidential summit focuses on helping disabled youths make transition to college and careers New degrees, majors, or programs announced by 6 colleges Universities should plug 'top 10' network-security holes, report says Stock's free fall slows software magnate's plan for online university