Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Giuliani turns eye to corporate life

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 14:03:17 -0500

Giuliani turns eye to corporate life

 Former N.Y. mayor loves idea of turning things around for some troubled firm

The Globe And Mail
 By GORDON PITTS

 Thursday, November 14, 2002 – Print Edition, Page B9

 After cleaning up New York and standing strong during the Sept. 11 crisis,
 Rudy Giuliani has a new starring role in mind -- as a senior executive saving a
 troubled corporation.

 "I love the idea of turning things around," said the former mayor of New
 York, who these days is making the rounds promoting his recently published
 book, Leadership.

 Mr. Giuliani, who first made his reputation as a crusading prosecutor
 combatting mobsters and white-collar crime, said he has no specific plan or
 company in mind for his salvage efforts. But the idea of being a CEO fighting
 to save a major corporation brought down in the current climate of
 accounting scandals and financial crisis clearly appeals to him.

 "That's why the future is very interesting, we'll have to see what happens," he
 said, adding that "with all of these things, I don't rule out options."

 However, Mr. Giuliani, who is visiting Toronto today to promote his book at
 an Indigo bookstore, was adamant in rejecting calls for him to become
 chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the wake of
 the resignation of the controversial and politically damaged Harvey Pitt. "I'm
 not at a point in life where I want to go back into government. I've got a
 private life and a private business and that's where I want to be right now,"
 he said.

 Mr. Giuliani, whose eight-year stint as New York mayor ended last
 December, has set up Giuliani Partners, a management consulting firm that
 specializes in corporate security and crisis management. So far, he said, he
 has three major clients -- wireless supplier Nextel Communications Inc.,
 pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma LP and insurance and benefits giant
 Aon Corp.

 Various commentators have called for the Bush administration to appoint
 Mr. Giuliani as SEC chairman -- or at least someone with a similar reputation
 for tough investigative ability. Mr. Giuliani said he was not approached by the
 White House, and that a clone of himself was not necessary for the job. But
 the new chairperson, he said, should be someone with independence and
 integrity. He said it wasn't necessary that the person be famous, because a
 reputation can be quickly earned by handling the first couple of incidents in
 an effective way. But it is important, he said, to get those first things right and
 to be politically adroit.

 Mr. Giuliani said that in the current corporate environment, there is a danger
 of overreacting to accounting and financial abuses. When governments react,
 they often overregulate. "We have a hard time adjusting the right balance," he
 said, adding that under-regulation and overregulation have been a constant
 cycle through history.

 The former mayor takes the view that many of the corporate transgressions
 are examples of some bad apples abusing otherwise valid accounting rules
 for their own benefit. In his book, he calls it "the pig factor" -- someone
 stretches the boundaries of the rules, which leads to more expensive
 safeguards being put in place, which affect everyone. It's the same thing that
 happens, he says, with business expense accounts and little league
 ballplayers who lie about their ages.

 He said the public and the media often tar people guilty of minor indiscretions
 with the same brush used on actual criminals.

 He pointed out that Jack Welch, the former General Electric Co. CEO who
 was revealed to have an outrageously lavish retirement package, was often
 lumped together with the officers of Enron Corp., who are actually accused
 of major accounting fraud.

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