Filed under: Television, Scandals
Of the executive bad boys who gained infamy during the early 2000s — executives at Enron and Worldcom being the most prominent — Tyco’s (NYSE: TYC) Dennis Kozlowski is perhaps the most complex story. For one, the company is still public, sporting a $20 billion market cap, plus another $15 billion for its spin-off, Tyco Electronics (NYSE: TEL).
This made Kozlowski an interesting choice for a profile on American Greed, which had thus far profiled now-defunct entities exclusively.
Kozlowski comes across as a greedy scoundrel — fraudulently evading over $1 million in taxes on his art collection, using corporate assets to buy personal items, in spite of his frequent 9-figure paydays, and just generally acting like a pretty typical late 90’s imperial CEO. Corporate governance at the company was a total joke, with one director reaping an 8-figure payday for arranging one meeting that led to a deal.
In the end, Kozlowski ended up in prison for 22 counts of grand larceny and defrauding shareholders out of more than $400 million. He has maintained that there was no criminal intent, and that the bonuses were authorized by the company’s board of directors.
Still — Tyco was never exposed as an accounting fraud on the same scale that companies like Enron and Worldcom were and, while Deal-a-Day Dennis was too aggressive in his pursuit of acquisitions, a lot of other companies were too, and the stock has appreciated more than 5-fold since he became CEO in 2002.
All that aside, the Kozlowski story definitely fits in the category of “American Greed”, even if the Tyco debacle falls short as a “scam.” This is definitely the best look at it I’ve seen so far; be sure to check your local listing for the replays.
To learn more about Kozlowski, take a look at the terrific website CNBC has set up.
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