John Head III

Although John Head controls 42% of the stock of one of Bermuda's worst-run companies, ESG Re, he is held in such low regard by other shareholders that he still cannot get resolutions passed.The specialist reinsurer he founded announced on March 9, 2006 that a special shareholders meeting had been held in New York two days earlier. “The meeting was requisitioned by John C Head III, the Company's former Chairman, and his affiliated entity, ESG Partners L.P., to consider seven resolutions pertaining to amendment of the Company's byelaws,” stated the firm. “Of the 11,058,069 shares outstanding, 7,443,833 were represented in person or by proxy at the meeting. Mr. Head and ESG Partners L.P. voted their shares but did not attend the meeting to present their proposals. All of the proposals were defeated.” The firm did not give any details about what the proposals entailed.

After running the specialist reinsurer into the ground, John C. Head III has resigned as chairman, director and employee of Bermuda-domiciled ESG Re.His departure was announced in ESG Re's latest earnings release in which it reported a net loss of $12.4 million for the 12 months ended December 31, 2004, compared with a loss of $11.8 million in 2003.

Bermuda registered ESG Re is now pursuing a professional negligence claim against its former auditor, Deloitte and Touche, in Ireland after a United States court rejected jurisdiction.Defendants in a new action filed at the High Court (Commercial Division) in Dublin

John Head's ESG Re announced in December that Deloitte & Touche had resigned as its auditor and withdrawn its audit for fiscal 2001 and review reports for three quarters, including the first half of 2002.

One of the major shareholders of Bermuda-based ESG Re has accused the company's chairman, John Head III, of overpaying himself while simultaneously ruining the company through mismanagement. The criticism of Head came in a letter from private investment management firm SC Fundamental LLC to the ESG Re's Board of Directors.