[lbo-talk] Conrad Black resigns ...

[Gregory Geboski]

Well, there's a lot here to indicate he really doesn't have what it takes for Today's Competitive Environment. "A genuinely literate man who appreciated good writing and good journalism"--well, isn't that special. Is this some ego thing of his? A bit like angling for that lordship, eh what? He was probably checking over copy when he could have been buying politicians, vertically integrating his empire, and increasing his compensation package. Face it: Behind all that talk, a closet loser.

And what kind of modern executive has to use some kind of subterfuge to make off with a paltry $32 million? Didn't he control his own board? If not, why not? Hell, then he could have just demanded the money. And there's no mention here of any nice big compensation package when he was shown the door.

There are some other jaw-droppers:

<< It was Lord Black himself who earlier this year agreed to appoint a special committee to review the unauthorised payments. >>

You mean he appointed them without determining ahead of time what they would find? Was he insane?

<< Hollinger shareholders have argued that the payments should have benefited the company rather than its directors. >>

Yeah, and where have these people been living for the last 20 years?

---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: "Jeet Heer" <jeet at sturdynet.com>
Reply-To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
Date:  Mon, 17 Nov 2003 12:43:25 -0500


>Conrad Black has resigned as head of Hollinger, Inc. -- apparantly, he's entangled in some sort of scandal. He was my former boss (for about 6 months) before he sold the National Post. I have to say, I was sad to see him leave the Post and am equally saddened by his fall (although if he committed any crimes, he should of course be punished). His politics are incredibly retrograde, but he is also a genuinely literate man who appreciated good writing and good journalism. He was pretty hands on in setting up the Post, and made sure the paper paid its staff well, and would send along complimentary notes when they wrote something he liked or took a nice photo. Sorry for sentamenalizing him, but I do think he's a notch better than your run of the mill right-wing press lord.
>
>
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3276319.stm
>
>Media tycoon Conrad Black resigns 
>Conrad Black is to step down as chief executive of a global media empire that includes the UK's Daily and Sunday Telegraph newspapers. 
>The announcement came as the company, Hollinger International, said it was considering putting itself up for sale. 
>
>The move follows an internal inquiry which found that Lord Black and other executives had received more than $32m (£19m) in unauthorised payments. 
>
....