LTH Forum Caught Up in Financial Dispute, May be Sold

According to an email received by Chicagoist on Wednesday afternoon, the founder and owner of the popular local online food resource LTHForum, Gary Wiviott, may be forced to sell his interest in the site as part of a bankruptcy proceeding. Wiviott told us that LTH has never made any money and that he has run the site out of his personal funds.

Another co-founder of LTH, Peter Daane, filed suit against Wiviott in 2009 after giving Wiviott a personal loan. Wiviott told us that he had "incorporated LTH forum 6 years ago, just so that if someone sued the site, I wouldn't be in trouble." During the bankruptcy proceeding, however, this meant that LTHForum was considered one of Wiviott's assets, and his interest in the site will go up for sale on June 29.

Here's hoping this legal dispute doesn't destroy the site, which has been a mainstay of the Chicago food community for years. If anyone wants to buy the site (especially as a labor of foodie love), contact Daane at pdanne@yahoo.com. Daane had not responded to a request for comment at post time, but told Time Out Chicago that ""I hope somebody on the website bids a whole bunch of money for it, I get paid back, I pay off all my lawyers...and I'm done." The opening bid, which has already been placed by a "founding member," according to Daane, is $40,000.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@chicagoist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Anthony Todd in Food on June 1, 2011 3:20 PM

Comments [rss]

lls62

madeshopping.net

blipsman

GWiv should just copy the forum's database and launch a new "LSC Forum" in honor of another Chinatown landmark...

sinosoul

perhaps, but LTH has always been punny. LSC is rather edible.

Reaperducer

As someone who has built, bought, and sold web sites before, $40k for a site with that traffic is not out of line, based on other recent sales.

Charlie Didrickson

Here's a question I have always wanted to know. What does LTH stand for?

BlueFairlane

I always thought "lithium."

Anthony Todd

According to the forum:
LTH = "Little" Three Happiness. The board is named in tribute to the Chinatown restaurant.http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic....

Charlie Didrickson

Ah ha! Thanks AT

blipsman

In what fantasy land does one get to sell an asset for what one wants to recoup rather than what it's worth? If the site has never been monetized then what justification does he have for asking for $40k? Has anybody requested balance sheets, etc. as one would expect when doing their due diligence on buying a business?

Or by Daane's logic, should I try to sell my 10 year old VW for $40k so I can buy the BMW I'd rather drive...

I really hope the site ends up in the hands of somebody who will continue to nurture the Chicago foodie community. I hope he doesn't pull the plug out of spite because he can't get his asking price.

ChicagoD

"The opening bid, which has already been placed by a "founding member,"
according to Daane, is $40,000."

Since a $40,000 bid has already (supposedly) been received, it appears that the market price for this share of the page is . . . $40,000. Turns out that the interwebs are the fantasy land you inquired about.

tomdarch

I don't think that answers the specific question, "What is the site worth? (full stop)" Meaning, what is the site worth as essentially a commodity in the open market. I think this answers the question, "What is the site worth to members of that particular community?"

Be careful of buying into the market fundamentalist myth that "Markets discover price" in some sort of effective manner. In a magically pure world unregulated markets theoretically could do so, but in a magically pure world communism theoretically could work, also. The recent economic collapse demonstrated pretty clearly that even minimally regulated markets can grossly fail to "discover" good valuation with any consistency. (In other words, markets have bubbles unless there's the right mix of forced transparency and active regulation/oversight.) Dr. Pangloss is as much a fool in our dirty, messy market oriented economy as he was in Candide's.

ChicagoD

Uh. Right. Except that if the seller gets $40,000 the item was worth $40,000. Not to me, mind you. Maybe not to you, but to the buyer. So, I actually don't need magically pure worlds to test this theory, I only need a cashier's check.

Whether this will be a good investment, a wise investment, or ultimately a "fair" or "good" value are all open to question, but blipsman's question is effectively answered.