NEW YORK (Wall Street Journal ) ? John (Jack) Byrne says he is considering stepping down as chairman of Overstock.com Inc., the online retailer.

Among the reasons Mr. Byrne says he may leave that post is disagreement with one of his sons ? Overstock Chief Executive Patrick Byrne ? over the amount of time the younger Mr. Byrne is spending on a highly public battle with short-sellers and analysts the son alleges are conspiring to damage the company?s stock.

?After the shareholder meeting (in April) this year, I?m going to give some serious consideration of whether I?m going to stay as chairman of the board,? the elder Mr. Byrne said in a phone interview, speaking from Park City, Utah. ?Patrick and I have had some wonderful times together on Overstock, but we?ve also had some stormy times. I?d rather keep my relationship with my son than be the chairman of the board of another company,? said the 74-year-old.

Patrick Byrne couldn?t immediately be reached for comment.

?I don?t think it?s a wise idea to be chairman with a headstrong son,? the elder Mr. Byrne added. However, he said he intends to remain on the board as a director and will also remain an investor. Together with his wife, he currently holds about nine percent of Overstock?s equity.

The senior Mr. Byrne has been chairman of Overstock since last October. Before that, he served since 2004 as vice-chairman of the company. Widely respected in insurance circles, Mr. Byrne was chairman of White Mountains Insurance Group for a dozen years and did two stints as chief executive of that firm, first from 1985 to 1997, and again from 2000 to 2002. Before he worked at White Mountains, he was chairman and chief executive of GEICO, the automotive insurer currently owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc., whose chairman, Warren Buffett, remains a close personal friend.

Jack Byrne assumed his current Overstock.com post after being asked by his son ? whom he referred to in the interview as ?brilliant? and ?a good lad? ? to help improve the management of Overstock.

The Salt Lake City-based retailer, which sells name-brand products over the Web, has not posted an annual profit since it went public in 2002.

The younger Mr. Byrne, 43, has been fiercely critical of certain short-sellers, who try to profit by selling borrowed shares of a company and replacing the loan later after the stock price has dropped. Last August, he filed a lawsuit against Rocker Partners, a New Jersey hedge fund that specialises in short-selling, and Gradient Analytics, an independent research firm based in Scottsdale, Arizona. The lawsuit alleged that Rocker and Gradient worked together in publishing negative research on Overstock.com.

Patrick Byrne has often referred to his fight with these shorts and analysts as a ?jihad,? and he has also been critical of journalists ? including several columnists employed by Dow Jones & Co., publisher of the Wall Street Journal, whose work he says aided the shorts.

?I can?t tell whether this ?jihad? adds to the value of the stock or subtracts from it, but what it does is takes from Patrick?s time,? the father continued. He says he has voiced his concern to his son ?endlessly,? but so far hasn?t been heeded.