Word: rjr
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When they did, Philip Morris boss Geoffrey Bible and RJR chief Steven Goldstone, who attended the first meeting held near Washington on April 3, put on the table some remarkable concessions: sweeping curbs on sales and marketing practices, and the payment of hundreds of billions of dollars in compensation. But in exchange, the two companies sought nothing less than blanket immunity from all present and future liability complaints...
LeBow, 59, makes an unlikely populist hero. He's an '80s-style corporate buccaneer who plundered Western Union, rattled American Brands and took runs at Prime Computer and RJR Nabisco. As head of the Liggett tobacco company, he has contributed to one of America's unhealthiest habits, but last week, ironically, he became the bearer of gifts to those plotting the demise of the cigarette industry. In settling a raft of lawsuits, LeBow agreed to turn over documents that presumably tell what the tobacco execs knew and when they knew...
...watched his company sink into bankruptcy in 1991. Then, amazingly enough, he managed to find a buyer for the business a couple of years ago, which allowed him to pay off old debts and emerge with some $300 million in cash--his springboard to the skirmish with RJR and a rejuvenated raiding career...
...RJR proxy fight in 1995-96--in which LeBow proposed to split the company into two pieces, the Nabisco Brands food group and the R.J. Reynolds tobacco firm--was ultimately rejected by skeptical stockholders. "I think it was...an issue of character," said tobacco-industry analyst Ellen Baras at the time. "I think there are people who would support a spin-off of Nabisco, but not by LeBow." One of the prime factors was LeBow's dubious reputation as a manager. In 1994 his own shareholders had sued him, claiming he had taken millions of dollars in improper loans; LeBow...
...celebrate the launch of his private yacht, modeled after Queen Victoria's. He reportedly gave guests gold coins bearing a likeness of himself wearing a Lord Nelson hat. He has sold off some of his lavish baubles in recent years, but his profligate reputation remains a flaw. In the RJR fight, opponents delighted in propagating the slogan "LeBow...Le Bankrupt. Any questions...