Overstock chief resigns after disclosing his romance with Russian agent

For two decades as the chief executive of online retailer Overstock.com, Patrick Byrne has never been far from controversy.

He posted elaborate theories on his personal website, railed against an unnamed Wall Street figure he named the Sith Lord and then, last week, delivered the most eyebrow-lifting tale of all. Byrne — operating on the advice, he said, of Berkshire Hathaway Chief Executive Warren Buffett — disclosed he had been in a romantic relationship with Maria Butina, a woman accused of being a Russian spy who tried to infiltrate circles of political power before the 2016 presidential election.

His statement, with its references to the “Deep State,” “Men in Black” and “political espionage,” sent his company’s shares sharply down and baffled investors. On Thursday, he resigned as Overstock’s chief executive and chairman, saying his continued presence was complicating the company’s business relationships.

Those relationships, he said in an interview, included the kind necessary to fulfill his plan to sell the online retailer.

Last week he put out his statement: “Overstock.com CEO Comments on Deep State, Withholds Further Comment.”

In it, Byrne said he had helped the FBI with the “Clinton Investigation” and “Russia Investigation.” Those, he said, “turned out to be less about law enforcement and more about political espionage conducted against Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.”

Although the statement did not mention her directly, it referred to what he described as a romantic relationship with Butina, who is serving an 18-month prison term after being accused by federal prosecutors of trying to infiltrate powerful political circles at the direction of the Russian government. She ultimately pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

Byrne said he had released the statement because he realized someone would uncover his involvement in the federal investigation if he did not reveal it himself.

Byrne’s departure leaves many big questions for Overstock.

“Now that he’s out of the picture, I think that will accelerate the sale of the retail side of the business,” said Tom Forte, an analyst at D.A. Davidson. Forte said its potential buyers could include Costco, Target and T.J. Maxx.