Sunday, June 29, 2008

Henry Samueli -- flawed but . . .?

Here is the Register's editorial on the guilty plea last Monday of Henry Samueli, co-founder of Broadcom (which makes chips for iPhones and other mostly portable devices). He ended up pleading guity of lying to investigators about back-dating stock options. Plea-bargained to a $12 million fine and five years probation. He and his co-founder Henry Nicholas -- under indictment for more serious stuff mostly related to backdating but also drug-related charges (including giving drugs to other without their knowledge, which I view as wrong whether it's crime or not). Feet of clay and all that. Thing is, Henry Samueli, worth about $2 billion now, has been a generous philanthropist -- the small theater in the new concert hall is named for him and his wife, he's kept Opera Pacific open, my son defrayed some of his college tuition with a Samueli grant, he gave so much the engineering schools at both UC Irvine and UCLA are named after him, he owns the Mighty Ducks. Sad situation bordering on tragic.

No comments: