I would like to make this holiday season message a brief one. First, I would like to wish all of you the merriest of Christmases and a happy New Year.
It is a wonderful feeling to have been able to announce to you that your corporation has done well enough to issue a return of your capital in the amount of $500 per share prior to the end of the year. That's $50,000 per shareholder holding 100 shares, which is more than all the dividends CIRI has issued since inception. The very act of being able to do that says a lot about you, our shareholders. You have been very patient over the years, and have been wise to have allowed the corporation to grow through reinvestment, rather than to have taken all the capital out of the company years ago. It also says a lot about your board in allowing management to do its job and supporting the long range plans that have been developed over the years, and in resisting the call of a small group to pay out all the income as we earned it. It says a lot about your management team that has been committed to growing the company with the primary goal and objective of growing to the point that we could distribute to the shareholders an amount that could be a life changing event for many, while still retaining investment capital in the company for the future.
I also have to give a lot of credit to Roy Huhndorf, the past president of CIRI and my mentor. Roy was dedicated to the principle of growing the corporation for future generations, and was always focused on making sure that the company retained enough capital to grow with while paying out as much as we could to shareholders on a current basis. I also believe in this principle whole-heartedly, and it is the principle that got us to where we are today.
A few have already said "it's not enough." However, they may not have realized just what the Board has committed to. I'll try to outline the commitment and will address it more fully in a separate letter to you soon. Simply put, your board has committed to you that you will receive the proceeds, less transaction costs, out of 4,071,000 shares of VoiceStream as we sell it down over the next year. That's 50 percent of the original 8,124,000 shares. In essence, you are receiving an advance on that 4,071,000 shares, in the amount of $313,950,000 this year. So let's all hope the market does well in 2001, because if VoiceStream increases in value, so will your 2001 dividend.
Again, I will be sending a letter soon explaining in more detail what your board has committed to you out of our VoiceStream investments. On behalf of the Board of Directors, management, and the staff of CIRI, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and happy New Year. We look forward to 2001 being a very prosperous year and also a year of new growth and direction for many areas of the company.

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