Can TheStreet.com Recover From the Drubbing That Cramer Took This Week?

Thomas Clarke, the CEO of TheStreet.com, evacuated the company on Friday, mere hours after Jim Cramer's disastrous appearance on the "Daily Show" with Jon Stewart.

Jim Cramer, who co-founded Thestreet.com in 1996 with Martin Peretz, released a tersely worded statement soon after Clarke announced his intentions to leave "effective immediately", thanking Thomas for "his long-time service to the Company".

Clarke spent almost a decade at Thestreet.com, joining the company in October of 1999 as their President and COO. He accepted the role of CEO in November of 1999, and served in that position until he abruptly quit earlier today.

Clarke gave no reason as to why he was leaving, though the answer should be pretty obvious.

The fact that a) he left the day after Cramer's appearance on the "Daily Show" b) he abruptly quit and gave no reason as to why he was leaving are pretty clear indications that Thomas Clarke believes that the Jim Cramer brand (and associated businesses) received fatal wounds this week.

The entire Thestreet.com business is centered around Jim Cramer, and Thomas Clarke likely believes that the business is no longer salvageable at this point. I can't see any other reason why he would suddenly leave after spending ten years at the company, can you?

Even the staunchest defenders of Jim Cramer will admit that he suffered a tremendous amount of damage to his reputation this week. Cramer, like him or not, is the engine that keeps Thestreet.com running. His frequent media appearances and popular "Mad Money" TV show drive a great deal of new subscribers to Thestreet.com.

With the Jim Cramer brand mortally wounded, it's hard to imagine that Thestreet.com will be able to meaningfully build its business moving forward. The stock is currently trading at $1.94, and has a market cap of just under $60 million dollars.

The events of the past week will surely not help the business, which is likely the reason why Clarke bailed so quickly after working to help build the company for the past ten years.

Thestreet.com is now rudderless, and it will be interesting to see how they plan on moving forward. Are they finished?


Filed under: General Market News



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