Nortel: The Morning After
I've been doing some thinking about what went down yesterday with Nortel. In
an odd way, it was a PR/IR coup for Nortel. They hire a high-profile law
firm to do an “independent” review on historical accounting issues.
Surprise, surprise, it's not Nortel's fault at all but rather ex-CEO Frank
Dunn, ex-CFO Doug Beatty and ex-controller. “It was them; they cooked the
books so they could get their bonuses,” Nortel seems to be saying - adding
that it's taking all kinds of measures to re-invent itself. The independent
review is such a good story with so many juicy details, the media had no
choice but to step up to the buffet and gorge.
That said, everything in the independent review is allegations that may or
may not be true. Maybe Dunn, Beatty and Gollogly cooked the books; maybe
not. Nortel was motivated by its need to move forward, and the best way to
do that is point the finger at someone else.
What I'd like to see is Dunn, Beatty and Gollogly provide their side of the
story. I suspect they've kept a super-low profile because there are legal
issues (class-action lawsuits) and criminal investigations underway. You
have to believe they are also some wrongful dismissal issues at play. Stay
tuned for more soap opera-like activity.
