01/13/2009
Stories From BarterNews� Archives 1997
Water More Valuable Than Gold!
Texas billionaires Lee and Ed Bass are bartering their 45,000 acres
of Southern California water rights to U.S. Filter Corp. The Basses,
who reportedly paid considerably less than the $80 million the
property is now worth, are cashing out big time. The barter payoff
is 8 million shares of U.S. Filter�s stock, some $250 million.
U.S. Filter, in Palm Desert (CA), is the world�s largest maker of
water recycling and treatment equipment. The prize for them, in the
barter transaction is senior water rights that will give the company
control of 250,000 acre feet of Colorado River water annually, for
$12.50 an acre foot. Many cities now pay $350 or more for an acre of
water, which is enough for a family of four for two years.
Will BMC�s �Piece-of-the-Action� Package Work For Other Companies?
John Moores, a former programmer at Shell Oil, formed the
Houston-based BMC Software company in 1980. Having little money,
Moores began bartering ownership in the company right from the
start�it was the way he attracted top talent. When he left in 1988
he was a multi-millionaire.
Last year BMC introduced a record 48 new products. The company,
which specializes in products for large corporate databases,
followed Moores example and today still offers employees stock
options. Plus, software developers are offered an opportunity to own
a piece of any sales their products generate. Last year three
software developers saw their products topping $25 million in sales!
John Moores, incidentally, is doing just fine today. Besides buying
the San Diego Padres baseball team, he invested in San Diego-based
Peregrine Systems (a maker of software that helps corporate computer
specialists solve user problems), and instituted another programmer
compensation plan. When Moores took Peregrine public, his 63% of the
company�which cost him $13 million�was worth $153 million!
Lucrative Barter Plan Enables Michael Jordan To Score On The Web!
SportsLine USA, a three-year-old sports and information service
signed Michael Jordan to a 10-year contract to create and manage his
own official site on the World Wide Web. The agreement is an
expensive bet that Jordan�s global renown can help online sports
live up to its billing as one of the few areas of the Internet
capable of turning a profit.
Jordan�s sweet deal, while getting no money upfront, is guaranteed
several million dollars over the life of the barter program�he will
receive equity (common stock) in SportsLine plus a split of ad and
merchandise revenue. For the lucrative trade Jordan is required to
answer five e-mails per week and conduct one online interview per
month.
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