The economic plunge of the 80s ironically paralleled Keith Brown’s fight with ALS. Both struggled to stay alive during these eight years. But, unfortunately, only one would ultimately win.
For the company to prevail, key management needed to stay put and help lift it from its trough.
So the board of Wyo-Ben decided to issue non-voting common stock to those individuals if they would help weather the storm. This strategy redeemed the company, and the leadership served to keep Wyo-Ben from drowning in a sea of debt.
But stock issuance also led to imbalance, i.e., ownership percentage versus voting shares percentage. Moreover, it caused a rift as some family members felt this approach had unfairly weakened their ownership.