Green Mountain Coffee founder Robert Stiller has come forward to explain the reasons heย sold off 66.3 million dollars worth of stock shortly before GMCR shares plunged. Turns out the whole thing has been a bogus trip for the otherwise perma-chill Bob.

Boston Globe reports:

The founder of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc., who was ousted as chairman for a stock sale that violated company policy, said the transaction was triggered after he was caught off-guard by a swift drop in the coffee makerโ€™s stock price.

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Robert Stiller, who also dumped his $50 million stake in Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., said in an interview Wednesday that he did not expect Green Mountainโ€™s shares to fall so steeply last week. The decline forced him to sell the shares on a margin call, which happened to occur during a blackout period in which the company prohibits the sale of its stock by insiders.

Weak! No telling what’s become of Mr. Stiller’s shares in the E-Z Wider Rolling Paper company (we’re not making this up). Bob’s major sell-off was reportedly due to his using a stock portfolio as his main source of income. Then some bankers cruelly harshed his mellow:

Stiller said he received a call from Deutsche Bank on Friday about an hour and a half before the market closed, telling him that he needed to come up with cash or sell shares.

Stiller, who founded Green Mountain in 1981 and served as its president and chief executive until May 2007, said that he is retired and that his stock portfolio is his main source of income. As for reports that he leads a lavish lifestyle, he said he bought a yacht five years ago because he enjoys traveling and being on the water with friends.

โ€œMaybe I shouldnโ€™t do these things, but Iโ€™ve worked all my life building this company and itโ€™s been successful,โ€™โ€™ said Stiller, 68. โ€œI want to enjoy it.โ€™โ€™

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