Last September, the board of Yellow Brick Road successfully urged shareholders to reject  Kiwi corporate raider Ron Brierley's 9¢-per-share takeover offer. The wealth manager, the board comprised of TV business guru Mark Bouris, his brother Adrian and John George insisted, was worth far, far more, potentially up to 38¢ a pop.

But Yellow Brick Road hasn't traded at 9¢-per-share since January. And on Friday, its board had no trouble issuing control of 12.3 per cent of the company to US hedge fund Magnetar for a mere 6¢ a share.