OT OT-- (but not politics):
This is one of the reasons that the US is having difficulty competing. The avarice of management. A cousin who worked for a mid-sized company pointed out that the CEO paid himself over a million, about what the profits of the company were. How could they generate the necessary money for investment and growth, given this? The company, once listed on the NYSE, is now bankrupt. Much of our economic growth comes from these small companies. Corporate greed will ruin them and hurt us.
This Tyco Videotape Has Been Edited for Content
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
NY Times Published: October 28, 2003
he videotape is now rated only PG-13.
The most salacious scenes in the video of L. Dennis Kozlowski's multimillion-dollar birthday party for his second wife, Karen, on the island of Sardinia were ordered cut yesterday from a version to be shown to jurors in the trial of Mr. Kozlowski, who is accused of helping loot Tyco International of $600 million.
Judge Michael J. Obus left on the cutting room floor scenes of the ice sculpture of Michelangelo's "David" urinating Stolichnaya vodka into crystal glasses and Mrs. Kozlowski's birthday cake in the shape of a woman's body with sparklers protruding from her breasts.
"While I am hesitant to make this trial any less entertaining than it already has been," Judge Obus said, he told both sides that he had to agree with Mr. Kozlowski's lawyers, who argued that the scenes could prejudice the jury. "Whether an ice sculpture was at this party couldn't matter less," Judge Obus said. The point, he said, is that "there is no doubt this was a lavish party."
Prosecutors contend that Mr. Kozlowski, the former chairman and chief executive of Tyco, and Mark H. Swartz, the firm's chief financial officer, looted the company of $600 million by secretly making Tyco foot the bill for their expensive tastes.
The Roman Empire-themed birthday party - part of a six-day event that cost $2.1 million - may be the most vivid example of a list of high-price items that prosecutors contend Mr. Kozlowski bought with money from Tyco, which picked up half the tab. "This whole week in Sardinia is a stark illustration of that,'' said Ann Donnelly, an assistant district attorney. Mr. Kozlowski contends that the event was in large part a business function.
Prosecutors had planned to show an uncut version of the party videotape yesterday, but were blocked when the judge ordered that certain scenes be removed. The jury is scheduled to see the edited version today.
Among the other scenes that have been ordered deleted, described by Mr. Kozlowski's lawyer, include a guest "mooning the camera," a waitress feeding grapes to male guests and "dancers who may be viewed as somewhat erotic." Another scene in which Mrs. Kozlowski is carried around by models dressed as gladiators was also cut, as was a scene in which Mrs. Kozlowski and another woman are shown standing between two gladiators and the woman says, "We need another."
Also deleted by Judge Obus was a scene of the singer Jimmy Buffett, who was paid $250,000 for an hourlong performance at the party, saying, "I want to take her home," in reference to Mrs. Kozlowski's birthday cake.
The edited video will be shown as part of testimony by Barbara Jacques, a former Tyco employee who planned the birthday party and acknowledged last week that she had an affair with Mr. Kozlowski during the late 1980's. Yesterday, Ms. Jacques testified that Mr. Kozlowski asked her to plan the party and said he would pay half the cost but gave her no spending limit. She said she traveled to Italy for about a week to visit different sites and that she hired a travel consultant to help plan the event, which was held at Hotel Cala di Volpe.
She described transforming the hotel's golf course into the themed extravaganza with chariots and gladiators greeting guests in the reception area as well as male models dressed in togas and Speedo bathing suits. Asked what they were supposed to do, she answered, to the giggles of the courtroom, "They looked good." She also described the stage where Mr. Buffett played as well as E. Cliff and the Swing Dogs, a rock band from Nantucket, Mass., where Mr. Kozlowski has a home.
The all-expenses-paid event for 75 guests included, besides the birthday party, a beach barbecue, a scavenger hunt, water-skiing, horseback riding, golf and scuba diving. Mr. Kozlowski's racing yacht, the Endeavor, and its staff were also in attendance.
Mr. Kozlowski has contended that Tyco properly paid for half of the trip because half of the guests were employees and the trip included a Tyco board meeting, a business meeting and networking, which, he said, was an important part of Tyco's culture. But prosecutors showed that many of the Tyco employees who were guests were not simply executives but also included Tyco's chef and personal trainer.
Prosecutors also questioned Ms. Jacques about a sentence in Mr. Kozlowski's letter to shareholders in Tyco's annual report that said the company made a "relentless push to reduce costs in good times and bad." Ms. Jacques, who helped prepare the annual report, said she did not know which passages of the letter Mr. Kozlowski had written or edited himself. She was also questioned about accommodations she set up for Mr. Kozlowski's daughter during a semester abroad in Madrid; the expenses for that appear to have been charged to Tyco.
Mr. Kozlowski's lawyer, Austin Campriello, spent the last hour of the day questioning Ms. Jacques after the prosecution finished its questioning. Prosecutors will have the opportunity to question her briefly again this morning when they introduce the videotape.
Mr. Campriello showed her agendas from several company events to try to demonstrate that the Sardinia trip was no different. He will continue his cross-examination today after the video is shown.
fred |
