Word: messier
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...French are very different from you and me. Except for former Vivendi Universal chair Jean-Marie Messier. He wanted to be just like a high-flying American CEO, and that (along, of course, with a 70 percent drop in the price of the company's stock since the beginning of this year) is what got him in trouble with his board and the French people. His forced resignation Tuesday sent shock waves throughout markets on both sides of the Atlantic. Shares in Vivendi fell as much as 40 percent on the Paris Stock Exchange that day as Le Monde questioned...
...idea was that by combining content with distribution and cross-promoting the heck out of every film, TV show, song, book and video game the creatives could muster, Vivendi Universal could deliver high-octane growth. To bolster that vision, Messier spent 2001 bulking up with acquisitions: publisher Houghton Mifflin ($2.2 billion), the music website MP3.com ($372 million), the TV and film assets of Barry Diller's USA Networks ($10.3 billion) and a 10% stake in the EchoStar satellite TV service ($1.5 billion). He created a joint headquarters in New York City and moved there in part to reassure U.S. investors...
...accounting rules, its net debt was restated upward from $13.1 billion to $17.1 billion. In January, Vivendi diluted shareholder equity by dumping 55 million shares on the market to help pay for recent acquisitions. Then last month the company announced a $13.7 billion write-down, confirming criticism that Messier had overpaid for his empire. That loss includes Vivendi's share of the $1.34 billion the company and its British partner Vodafone pumped into a snazzy Internet portal, Vizzavi, which Messier claimed would be revolutionary. Vizzavi is now practically worthless. To some, it was evidence that Messier--who started his career...
...Messier often points out that Vivendi made its revenue targets last year, and hit its earnings predictions--before those big charges. But this is the Enron Era. Big companies with complex finances and fuzzy growth prospects won't be getting a warm welcome from shareholders, no matter how big a splash the CEO can make. --With reporting by Bruce Crumley/ Paris and Jeffrey Ressner/Los Angeles
...denied parole for 10th time. We?re surprised: Charles kept his cell tidy, flossed daily and wore a new string tie to the hearing TONYA HARDING Skating queen busted for drunk driving. Tonya is one of those celebrities whose every action perfectly confirms our preconceptions of her JEAN-MARIE MESSIER Vivendi Universal chief gets booed at annual stockholder meeting. He?s the least-popular Frenchman not currently running for President...