Opponents Give Chief Time to Retain Control : Battle for ComputerLand Is Taking a Strange Twist

The bitter relationship between the two sides battling for control of the huge ComputerLand store chain suddenly has turned into a mutual admiration society, and founder and Chairman William Millard has been given another 30 days to try to retain control of his empire.

With smiles all around, Millard’s antagonists said Friday that they have agreed to give ComputerLand an extra month to raise the $25-million bond that it must post to appeal a jury decision that undermines the Millard family’s control of the firm.

Claremont attorney Herbert Hafif also raised the possibility of reducing or eliminating the bond or settling the case out of court.

Seize Control

Hafif’s client, Micro/Vest, won a jury verdict last March giving it 20% ownership of privately held ComputerLand and $141.5 million in punitive damages. The case stemmed from an old debt owed early principals in the 9-year-old firm.

ComputerLand’s failure to post the $25-million bond by Monday would have created an opening for Micro/Vest to try to seize control of ComputerLand by demanding payment of the $141.5 million in damages--a sum that ComputerLand presumably would have had to pay in stock. Millard’s alternative would have been bankruptcy, Hafif said.

In extending the bond deadline, Hafif appears to be facilitating his opponents’ appeal of the case that he has already won. But he and Micro/Vest, of which he is a 5% owner, also have a direct stake in the stability and financial health of ComputerLand.

‘Greek Tragedies’

Company spokesman Glenn Udine said “straining the corporation for cash” wasn’t in either side’s interests. “Everyone wants to make the prize bigger,” he said.

He said that, after a shake-up in management last week, ComputerLand decided to “reassess the whole situation with Micro/Vest.”

Said Hafif: “I don’t like to inflict Greek tragedies on people, but I don’t pretend to be Mother Teresa, either.”

The chummy new atmosphere, an outgrowth of Millard’s decision a week ago to step aside as chief executive, was amplified during a meeting Thursday of Hafif, representing Micro/Vest, the syndicate formed to sue ComputerLand; Edward Faber, who just replaced Millard as chief executive, and Millard’s daughter, Barbara Millard, 27, who just stepped aside as president.

Hafif has been highly critical of William Millard’s management ability and his decision last year to install his daughter as president.

“How in the hell any 27-year-old daughter of some rich guy could have any intrinsic abilities was beyond me,” Hafif recalled Friday.

Though the Millards’ decision to step aside as managers was to quell a revolt by ComputerLand store owners angry with company policies, the Micro/Vest group also wanted the Millards out and Faber restored to the top position that he previously held.

After their first face-to-face meeting, however, the outspoken attorney was effusive in his praise of Barbara Millard, whose new role at the company is to manage its legal case against Micro/Vest.

Hafif said that she “more than anyone else . . . convinced me that the defendants are worthy of the trust of my clients in extending the bond.”

Hafif, acknowledging his turnabout, said: “I’m embarrassed to be saying this because people might think I’ve been had. . . . I like to think that I’m not too set in my ways to acknowledge a misjudgment or two, and I certainly misjudged her abilities.”