Anonymous blogger Rahodeb, outed as the CEO of Whole Foods 11 months ago, has been cleared of illegal activity, writes PROINSIAS O'MAHONY

"I CAN'T tell you how good it feels to be able to write in my blog again."

These were the relieved words of John Mackey, chief executive of Whole Foods Market, the $4 billion (€2.57 billion) US organic supermarket chain, who is back blogging after an 11-month investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) found he had not broken any laws by posting hundreds of anonymous message board postings that eulogised the stock and denigrated its competitors.

Between 1999 and 2006, Mackey posted more than 1,400 messages on the Yahoo stock market forums under the name of Rahodeb, an anagram of his wife Dehorah's name. Many of the comments resembled the fevered fanaticism that tends to characterise market-related message boards.

"I love the company and I'm in it for the long haul," Rahodeb wrote. "We can expect another 40 to 50 years of market leadership for Whole Foods" assuming future executives can "match their market leadership legacy".

As for the CEO, the blogger protested that he was "not a Mackey groupie" but he did "admire what the guy has accomplished". Rahodeb even discussed haircuts. "I like Mackey's haircut. I think he looks cute!" In 2005, he predicted that "13 years from now Whole Foods will be a $800+ stock before splits". The stock closed yesterday at $29, almost 40 per cent below its then price.

Rahodeb was less complimentary about Wild Oats, a rival to Whole Foods. Management "clearly doesn't know what it is doing . . . OATS has no value and no future." Whole Foods later purchased its rival for $565 million.

The Federal Trade Commission initially objected on the grounds that the takeover was anti-competitive, which is how Rahodeb's outpourings came to light. One of his postings referred to how a takeover would help "avoid nasty price wars".

The SEC investigation found that Mackey was not attempting to manipulate stock prices through his postings, although Whole Foods has since banned all executives from such activities. Mackey said he had made a "mistake of judgment, not ethics" and that he sometimes "played devil's advocate for the sheer fun of arguing". He will now blog under his own name in the company's website.

Ironically, the stock has dropped by 30 per cent since the postings ceased, with Whole Foods missing profit targets in each of the last three quarters. During Rahodeb's eight-year tenure on the boards, the stock grew five-fold.

Much has been made of the CEO's unconventional lifestyle and his love of all things alternative (a vegan, he practises meditation and yoga). Nevertheless, his message board postings show he's no lily-livered pinko. "Radmok is interested in neither facts nor logic. He or she, like so many other shorts on this board, love to spin their fantasies about the future," he sniffs.

Clearly a genuine enthusiast for his company, Mackey was distressed when he witnessed "my child being abused by all these vicious people". Apart from Mrs Mackey, he writes that he loves Whole Foods Market "more than anything else in the entire world".

"Creating and growing this company has been my life's work. Like any good parent, I wanted to defend my 'child' when it was being maligned and attacked unfairly."

So does he still read what old adversaries on the Yahoo message board are saying? "I can't protect my child anymore so I don't read it," he says.