culture, politics, commentary, criticism

Wednesday, May 24, 2006
World's stupidest CEOs. It's amazing how little the CEOs of the Fortune 500 understand, by their own admission.
WSJ:
Prosecutors alleged Mr. Lay signed 27 documents agreeing to abide by the lending restrictions, called Regulation U, but nonetheless used the loans to buy stock, or repay Enron loans in excess of the 50% limitation. After one loan was discovered to be in violation, he was warned not to violate the provision and subsequently borrowed from another bank, they said.

An FBI agent testified that by skirting the lending provisions Mr. Lay was able to avoid about $12 million in taxes and stock-exercise costs
that would have been required to bring the loans into compliance at the end of 1999.

At the time most of the loans were requested, Mr. Lay said he didn't "fully understand it, and I'm not sure my staff did either." Questioned by his defense attorney, Mr. Lay testified that the signatures on several documents were mechanically affixed and dated by an assistant while he was traveling.
With the magic of his Autopen, Ken Lay managed not to pay $12 million in taxes and all he can say is "whoops."

Where was Lay traveling while his Autopen saved him $12 million? Paris, then on to Davos, then India. And all because of a little misunderstanding.

Gosh darn it, CEOing is "hard work"!
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Greatest Hits · Alternatives to First Command Financial Planning · First Command, last resort, Part 3 · Part 2 · Part 1 · Stealing $50K from a widow: Wells Real Estate · Leo Wells, REITs and divine wealth · Sex-crazed Red State teenagers · What I hate: a manifesto · Spawn of Darleen Druyun · All-American high school sex party · Why is Ken Lay smiling? · Poppy's Enron birthday party · The Saudi money laundry and the president's uncle · The sentence of Enron's John Forney · The holiness of Neil Bush's marriage · The Silence of Cheney: a poem · South Park Christians · Capitalist against Bush: Warren Buffett · Fastow childen vs. Enron children · Give your prescription money to your old boss · Neil Bush, hard-working matchmaker · Republicans against fetuses and pregnant women · Emboldened Ken Lay · Faith-based jails · Please die for me so I can skip your funeral · A brief illustrated history of the Republican Party · Nancy Victory · Soldiers become accountants · Beware the Merrill Lynch mob · Darleen Druyun's $5.7 billion surprise · First responder funding · Hoovering the country · First Command fifty percent load · Ken Lay and the Atkins diet · Halliburton WMD · Leave no CEO behind · August in Crawford · Elaine Pagels · Profitable slave labor at Halliburton · Tom Hanks + Mujahideen · Sharon & Neilsie Bush · One weekend a month, or eternity · Is the US pumping Iraqi oil to Kuwait? · Cheney's war · Seth Glickenhaus: Capitalist against Bush · Martha's blow job · Mark Belnick: Tyco Catholic nut · Cheney's deferred Halliburton compensation · Jeb sucks sugar cane · Poindexter & LifeLog · American Family Association panic · Riley Bechtel and the crony economy · The Book of Sharon (Bush) · The Art of Enron · Plunder convention · Waiting in Kuwait: Jay Garner · What's an Army private worth? · Barbara Bodine, Queen of Baghdad · Sneaky bastards at Halliburton · Golf course and barbecue military strategy · Enron at large · Recent astroturf · Cracker Chic 2 · No business like war business · Big Brother · Martha Stewart vs. Thomas White · Roger Kimball, disappointed Republican poetry fan · Cheney, Lay, Afghanistan · Terry Lynn Barton, crimes of burning · Feasting at the Cheney trough · Who would Jesus indict? · Return of the Carlyle Group · Duct tape is for little people · GOP and bad medicine · Sears Tower vs Mt Rushmore · Scared Christians · Crooked playing field · John O'Neill: The man who knew · Back to the top






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