dmx
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
DMX Technologies Group was a Chinese IT systems integrator listed on the Singapore Exchange in 2002. It provided digital media and infrastructure solutions across Asia. In 2009, Japanese telecom carrier KDDI acquired a controlling stake in the company through a S$183.1 million capital investment, installing its own executives as directors. Six years later the company was exposed as a fraud: a 2015 forensic investigation revealed its 2008 and 2009 sales and profits had been fabricated.
02 / dmx FAILURE REASONS
Failure factors supported by the current evidence
Yahoo/Right Media's own FAQ, quoted in the opened TechCrunch article of 1 Dec 2009, said DMX was discontinued because Right Media and Yahoo had made a strategic decision to focus on becoming a premium and differentiated exchange marketplace, so executives stopped supporting the Direct Media Exchange platform used by smaller/self-serve publishers.
Right Media and Yahoo stated a strategic decision to become a premium, differentiated exchange rather than continue supporting DMX.
The FAQ said the executive team made the difficult decision to discontinue supporting DMX, after which the platform would no longer serve ads.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Listed
DMX Technologies, a Chinese IT systems integrator, listed on the Singapore Exchange.
- KDDI investment
Japanese telecom carrier KDDI acquired a controlling stake in DMX Technologies through a S$183.1 million capital investment, appointing KDDI executives to the board.
- Fraud exposed
Senior management were arrested in Hong Kong in February 2015; shares were suspended the following month and never resumed trading. A forensic investigation revealed sales and profits had been fabricated in 2008 and 2009 - DMX was a confirmed fraud.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
DMX Technologies, a Chinese IT systems integrator, listed on the Singapore Exchange in 2002, providing digital media and infrastructure solutions across Asia.
- 02
In 2009, Japanese telecom carrier KDDI acquired a controlling stake through a S$183.1 million capital investment, installing its own executives as directors.
- 03
In February 2015, the fraud came to light when senior management were arrested in Hong Kong; shares were suspended the following month and never resumed trading.
- 04
An August 2015 forensic investigation revealed that sales and profits had been fabricated in 2008 and 2009. DMX is a confirmed fraud. No reliable loss figure was disclosed, so no loss amount is recorded.