Utah GOP guv candidate: Overstock.com stockpiled gold in case of economic collapse

Source: Salt Lake Tribune

Under Jonathan Johnson's leadership at Overstock.com, the company has socked away $10.9 million in gold and silver and has a three-month food supply for each employee, bracing for a financial crisis that the Republican gubernatorial candidate said is certain to come.

Johnson told the United Precious Metals Association — a group that was behind legislation to make gold legal tender in the state — that the company keeps small button-sized gold and silver coins outside the banking system.

"We expect when there is a financial crisis, there will be a banking holiday," Johnson, Overstock chairman of the board, told the group. "I don't know if it will be two days or two weeks or two months. But we have $10 million in gold and silver in denominations small enough … that we can use it for payroll. We want to be able to keep our employees paid [and] safe and our site up and running."

... "That's very unusual," said Scott Schaefer, a professor of finance at the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. "I've not heard of a company stockpiling gold before."

Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/news/3120420-155/utah-guv-candidate-overstock-stockpiled-gold