Source: Fortune. 12/7/2009, Vol. 160 Issue 11, p14-16. 3p. 4 Color Photographs.
Document Type: Opinion
Subject Terms: *EXECUTIVES; *CHIEF executive officers
AVARICE
Geographic Terms:
UNITED States
Company/Entity:
TYCO International Ltd. -- Officials & employees Ticker: TYC
People:
KOZLOWSKI, Dennis, 1946- -- Trials, litigation, etc.
Abstract:
The author offers observations on Dennis Kozlowski, the former chief executive officer of industrial conglomerate Tyco, who is serving up to 24 years in prison. The author argues that if greed alone were grounds for imprisonment, much of Wall Street would be in jail. He questions whether Kozlowski was unfairly demonized as opposed to the corporate leaders who nearly took down the international economy in 2008.
Full Text Word Count: 1087 ISSN: 0015-8259 Accession Number: 45515650, Publisher Logo: KOZ MAKES HIS CASE
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Section:
FIRST: NEWS, ANALYSIS & INFORMED OPINION
OPINION
THE NOTORIOUS FORMER CEO OF TYCO IS SERVING UP TO 25 YEARS FOR HIS SINS. BUT IN THE AGE OF WALL STREET CHICANERY, IT MAY BE TIME TO RETHINK WHO'S REALLY A CRIMINAL. A CONTRARIAN'S TAKE.
FOR INMATE NO. 05A4820, the days are pretty much the same. At the Mid-State Correctional Facility in upstate New York, Dennis Kozlowski, 63, sorts prison laundry, awaits mail call, enjoys his private supply of fresh fruit, watches Yankees games (he's a minority owner), and tries to sleep in a cell where the bright light never goes out. Eight years and a lifetime ago, "Deal-a-Day" Dennis was among America's most celebrated, highest-paid CEOs, transforming a company named Tyco from a backwater manufacturer with a market cap of $1.5 billion into an industrial conglomerate worth more than $100 billion. Business Week had lauded him as one of the Top 25 Managers of the Year. (Fortune got into the act in 1986, including young Kozlowski on a list of People to Watch because