Few people in high-tech were as high flying and hard crashing as as Broadcom's billionaire CEO Henry T. Nicholas III. But, in an email that can now be used as evidence in his trial, we can see how far he allegedly fell. It is hard to be more damaging than the following:
"I am still suffering from the effects of going 'cold turkey' [off drugs] but I'm getting better. The worst part is seeing the company falling apart because I am not fully functioning. However, I don't care about Broadcom anymore, I just feel like a liar to the people I am recruiting into new positions ... because I am potentially fucking some things up this week that will be irreparably damaging. Fortunately, those results take at least a year to show up on our financial performance. However, I am willing to lie and bullshit to get key people in place so that I can extract myself from Broadcom as soon as possible."
Nicholas had sought to keep the incriminating email out of court, arguing it was a personal communication to his ex-wife and therefore privileged information. However, U.S. District Court Judge Cormac J. Carney said Nicholas can not claim privilege, because the email was composed on a Broadcom computer without password protection; that it was circulated among several Broadcom employees and well-known to federal investigators; and that it was described in an Nov. 15, 2008, article in the Orange County Register.
"The court cannot keep secret what is already public,” Carney wrote in a ruling unsealed yesterday.
Nicholas, chief executive officer of Broadcom from 1991 to 2003, and William Ruehle, Broadcom’s former chief financial officer, have pleaded not guilty to 21 criminal counts of conspiring to misreport $2.2 billion in employee stock options at the Irvine chip making company.
But, the entire matter reads like a TV soap opera. Vanity Fair magazine, in an article entitled "Dr. Nicholas and Mr. Hyde," described Nicholas' parade of prostitutes, the spiking of clients’ drinks with Ecstasy, and the secret lair he built underneath the Orange County mansion he shared with his wife and kids.
“He wanted to live above ground with his wife and three children, with the option to go below ground to immerse himself in his cocaine, ecstasy, Viagra, speed, prostitutes, and party friends,” alleged the contractors who helped build what they called “the Lair.” (Photo by Mark Boster/L.A. Times.)
Don't miss this story. (Tip of the Hat to Josh Kopelman.)
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