End of Empire: World Stock Exchange Disappears

Earlier in the year, WSE CEO LukeConnell Vandeverre made a very interesting comment for the many that speculated that the January 4, 2008 halt in operations were a sign that the WSE was in serious trouble. When the exchange reopened on August, 3, 2008, most serious investors were already permanently wary.

"I, LukeConnell Vandeverre have not disappeared at all and never did disappear. I have logged into Second Life on a regular basis to receive and respond to any Instant messages from Second Life users."

Now that the WSE website only says "Status: 500 Internal Server Error", and Vandeverre has become completely unavailable for comment, The End I think we should have seen coming sooner rather than later.

WSE announced a trading halt on November 10, 2008, and ALC, FVS, FKH, and RLX delisted themselves within hours. All but RLX have relisted since with the ISE.

None of Vandeverre's alts responded to requests for comment.