Overstock CEO To Take Leave Of Absence, Cites Case Of Hepatitis C, Quotes 'Outlaw Josey Wales' In Bizarre Letter

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The chairman of Overstock.com announced Monday he would be stepping down in what some are calling one of the more colorful CEO announcements in recent memory.

Dr. Patrick Byrne, founder and CEO of Overstock, said he will take a "personal leave of absence for medical reasons" for an "indefinite" period of time in a letter addressed to shareholders.

The press release accompanying the letter stated it's "unknown if he will return to work."

According to the letter, the "proximate cause" for the announcement is a case of Stage IV hepatitis C that Byrne says he contracted during a 1984 visit to China "when a barefoot doctor sewed up a head wound under less-than-ideal conditions."

"I have finished treatment and think I have it beat but only time will tell," Byrne wrote.

The letter also quotes a line from the 1976 Clint Eastwood movie "The Outlaw Josey Wales": "I myself never surrendered. But they got my horse, and it surrendered."

He also reiterated his confidence in the Overstock business, projecting the company would drum up $40 million in pre-tax revenue in 2016 barring the "net effect of blockchain efforts and the risk of declared recession."

"I am intensely proud of my nearly 2,000 colleagues for having built a consistently profitable $2 billion e-tailer (on a fraction of the capital afforded our competitors)," the letter stated.

He closed the letter by recommending Mitch Edwards, general counsel of Overstock.com and a veteran tech executive, as Acting CEO.

Earlier this month, Overstock surprised the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority by backing out of a five-year-old naming rights deal for the home of the Oakland Athletics and Oakland Raiders just days before the Athletics' home opener.