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feedback from Move Inc. to Zillow.com CEO's Comment on CNBC




- Move, Inc.  provided the following statement regarding Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff's comment on CNBC:

Last Friday  on CNBC, Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff [largest property portal in the US] accused Rupert Murdoch of News Corp [having bought Realtor.com Zillows rival in late 2014 ] of acting out of 'desperation' in filing a 'vindictive' lawsuit. But that litigation was filed by Move long before News Corp even owned the company, and it is based squarely on the merits of the case, not emotions. In Zillow's own filings with the SEC [see below], it has concluded there is a 'reasonable possibility' it will suffer a loss in this lawsuit.



 

;)  oh yeah   :)


It's understandable why Mr. Rascoff said today of the litigation, he's 'tried to put it out of my mind.' Just last week, the judge ordered defendants to appear for a two-day evidentiary hearing on April 13 and 14 into 

Move's claims that important evidence has been destroyed by some or all of the defendants in this case."

The legal tensions are escalating between Zillow and News Corp.-owned Move Inc.

And with good reason. There’s a lot of money at stake.

In its fourth quarter earnings report this week, Zillow’s profits fell short of expectations, after the Seattle online real estate company spent $8.1 million on an ongoing lawsuit with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., which in 2014 acquired Move Inc.

In a SEC filing on Friday, Zillow said that legal costs related to the Move Inc. litigation mounted to $27.1 million last year. And those expenses are expected to go up in 2016, reaching an eye-popping $36 million.

That’s a lot of coin for a suit that largely centers around one employee.

The dispute is tied to former Move executive, Errol Samuelson[ pictured above], who was hired by Zillow in March 2014.

Samuelson and Zillow were promptly sued by Move for allegedly hijacking trade secrets, with Sameulson sidelined in July 2014 from working at Zillow by a Washington State Superior Court Judge, a ban that was lifted last year.

If the rivalry wasn’t nasty enough in the courts, some verbal barbs flew this week.

In a Friday appearance on CNBC, Rascoff was asked how long the legal bills would hang over Zillow.

“You’d have to ask Rupert Murdoch that question,” said Rascoff, referring to the News Corp. chairman.


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Rascoff continued:

“We are focused on innovating, News Corp. is focused on litigating. Unfortunately, you see this all too often in business where companies who lose on the business battlefield resort to the court room out of desperation. We have been sued by News Corp. We are forced to defend ourselves. It is vindictive, it is baseless. But I try to put it out of my mind, and focus on turning Zillow into a $5 billion or $10 billion revenue company and I leave it to the lawyers to handle it.”

In response to the CNBC appearance, Move issued this statement:



 On Friday 12 February 2016  CNBC, Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff accused Rupert Murdoch and News Corp of acting out of ‘desperation’ in filing a ‘vindictive’ lawsuit. But that litigation was filed by Move long before News Corp even owned the company, and it is based squarely on the merits of the case, not emotions. In Zillow’s own filings with the SEC, it has concluded there is a ‘reasonable possibility’ it will suffer a loss in this lawsuit.




Startup Grind Seattle Hosts Spencer Rascoff, CEO (Zillow)

It’s understandable why Mr. Rascoff said today of the litigation, he’s ‘tried to put it out of my mind.’ Just last week, the judge ordered defendants to appear for a two-day evidentiary hearing on April 13 and 14 into Move’s claims that important evidence has been destroyed by some or all of the defendants in this case.”


About Move, Inc. and realtor.com®

Move, Inc. operates the realtor.com® website and mobile experiences, which provide buyers, sellers and renters of homes with the information, tools and professional expertise they need to discover and create their perfect home. News Corp [NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] acquired Move in November 2014, and realtor.com® quickly established itself as the fastest growing online real estate service provider as measured by comScore.

As the official website of the National Association of REALTORS®, consumers know they can look to realtor.com® for the most comprehensive and accurate information anytime, anywhere. With relationships with nearly 800 multiple listing services (MLS), realtor.com® has more than 3 million for-sale listings, which account for more than 97 percent of all MLS-listed for-sale properties. More than 90 percent of the listings are updated every 15 minutes. Move's network of websites provides consumers a wealth of innovative tools, including Doorsteps®, Moving.com™, SeniorHousingNetSM and others. Move supports real estate professionals by providing many services to grow their businesses in an increasing digital, on-demand world, including ListHub™, the nation's leading listing syndicator and centralized intelligence platform for the real estate industry; TigerLead®;Top Producer® Systems; and FiveStreetSM and Reesio as well as many free services.

Forward-Looking Statements
This document contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's views and assumptions regarding future events and business performance as of the time the statements are made. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations due to changes in global economic, business, competitive market and regulatory and other factors. More detailed information about these and other factors that could affect future results is contained in News Corp's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The "forward-looking statements" included in this document are made only as of the date of this document and we do not have any obligation to publicly update any "forward-looking statements" to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law. 

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