On this day in 1997, CompuServe chief Robert Massey tendered his resignation, ending his brief, but tumultuous run at the helm of the company. After a successful stint as the head of CompuServeÝs network service division, Massey was tabbed to take control of the entire company in late 1995. However, his tenure atop CompuServe was plagued by fiscal woes and failed business decisions, as the company, which was making a heated push in the burgeoning online services field, ultimately wilted under the furious competition of its rival service provider, America Online (AOL). The key moment in MasseyÝs brief reign was his decision to launch an aggressive marketing campaign designed to help CompuServe control the online service market. Though the campaign initially lured a batch of new subscribers, it couldnÝt stave off the competition and eventually helped cripple the companyÝs bottom line. In 1996, CompuServe went public with an initial offering price of $35.50 a share; by the time of MasseyÝs resignation, the stock had plummeted to a paltry $10.8125. And, to add insult to injury, CompuServeÝs subscription base began to dwindle, prompting the company to withdraw from the rough-and-tumble world of online services and instead focus on its more profitable business services work.