Tyco International

Tyco International is a security systems and fire protection company. During the 1990s, under the leadership of chief executive officer (CEO) Dennis Kozlowski, Tyco became one of the most admired publicly owned conglomerates on Wall Street. Kozlowski transformed Tyco from a $3 billion New Hampshire company into a multinational corporation with $36 billion in annual revenue, more than 2,300 subsidiaries, and 270,000 employees. Kozlowski was among the highest paid corporate executives in the United States, receiving more than $286 million in compensation from 1997 through 2001, including $137.5 million in 2000 alone. His lavish lifestyle came to symbolize corporate executive greed.

Beginning in 1995, Kozlowski and chief financial officer Mark Swartz started stealing what would amount to $170 million from Tyco in unauthorized loans and bonuses, ...