World Online - Post IPO

Post IPO

Brink resigned from her job in April under pressure from employees and investors. In May, a class action was brought to a Dutch court alleging that World Online, its bankers, ABN Amro, and Brink broke Dutch securities regulations when the ISP floated on the Amsterdam stock market.

James Kinsella, an American, previously CEO of MSNBC.com, replaced Brink as Chairman of World Online in June. He curtailed marketing and the editorial department, and fired 150 employees at the Rotterdam corporate headquarters. He focussed on becoming a network operator and increasing subscriber numbers by introducing a flat-fee service, but the company was limited in its success of stimulating growth.