Nieuwe corporate hype alléén in de VS ?

Gisteren ontving ik een circulaire van de bekende Harry Mens van CNN, Lou Dobbs. Hij schreef over een groeiend structureel (?) verschijnsel, dat de meeste West-Europese en vooral de Nederlandse politici, bureaucraten, media en corporatisten ook in toenemende mate plegen te verdoezelen of te bagatelliseren.

July 16, 2005
Dear Harry,
I’m fired up. And you would be too if the CEO of a company you’d invested in used $26 million worth of company funds to buy timberland…just to preserve the view from his house, as John Rigas of Adelphia did.
Yes, corporate America has been woefully dishonest…and it is
costing hard-working American investors like you (and me) a LOT of money.
If you’ve been listening to the business news at all lately, then chances are you’ve noticed the same disturbing trend as Lou.
He’s angered by what’s happening, and he’s developed a three-pronged strategy to help investors fight back. Based on his track record so far, it could potentially GROW your wealth by 30% or more by this time next year. You’ll find complete details of this ‘in-your-face’ profit strategy later on in this letter.
But first, let me show you how we’re being taken once again.
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A Double-Edged Sword-Right Through Your Pocketbook
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Punishment has taken way too long, but the likes of Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz (just found guilty of 44 counts of grand larceny, securities fraud, conspiracy and falsifying records at Tyco) along with John Rigas (sentenced to 15 years for conspiracy, plus bank and securities fraud at Adelphia) are back in the news.
Many investors will feel that justice has been done and perhaps leave it at that. But there is something that emerged in these trials that should raise a RED FLAG for every investor.
I’m talking about their defense strategies.
Each of these exorbitantly paid CEOs fell back on a defense of not really knowing what was going on in the companies they were supposed to be running. Kozlowski’s ill-fated defense centered on his assertions–given in his own witness-stand testimony–that he left a lot of business details to others.
Former WorldCom chief Bernie Ebbers claimed he was more of a ‘big-picture guy’ than someone who really understood how his company worked. And Rigas’ attorneys claimed he was “too old” to understand the intricacies of the business he was entrusted to run.
And you can bet your bottom dollar that the Enron executives’ upcoming defense will sing the same tune.
As far as I’m concerned, that’s nothing short of an outrage.
These guys were all paid obscene amounts of money to know exactly these things-that was their JOB. So, either these CEO’s were simply NOT doing their jobs…or they actively robbed their shareholders out of millions of dollars.
Both scenarios are appalling for investors.
And they are a stunning indictment of how many CEOs have been allowed to treat their companies as if they were some type of corporate treasure chest. They’ve been funding their lavish lifestyles with OUR MONEY…and it’s time we fight back.
(…)
Sincerely,
Lou Dobbs