The fact that he surely knew about this situation but still cashed in $4 mill worth of bonuses and THEN laid people off? Wow. Not only a low life, but apparently, perhaps, a criminal low life. Would love to see the PAC-12 lawyer up and force Scott to speak out of both sides of his face for weeks on end. It would be the very least they could do for him.
Any legal wrangling that can occur to wrestle back those performance bonuses? If not, seems a stock and pillory punishment should be in order at the PAC 12 Championships -- both football and basketball for the same number of years Larry ruled as commissioner.
The PAC 12 university presidents and chancellors should also have to answer for their lack of oversight. The PAC 12 is one of the least transparent worst governed multi billion dollar entities I’ve ever seen and it starts with the presidents and chancellors. As bad as Larry Scott was there is still no evidence that transparency or basic governance has improved.
All true...and why were these guys still around? Anyone remotely in Scott’s circle should have been cleaned out within 30 days of Kliavkoff being hired. House cleaning has long been needed and it isn’t clear that the new guy is up to it. When one takes over an org, and you look back on your first year or two, the thoughts are never “I fired ___too soon”; it’s always realizing that you should have fired them sooner. Kliavkoff has been a disappointment.
I'm no legal expert by any means, but this sounds like something that could rise to the level of criminal actions. I'll bet this isn't the last we discover of ol' Lavish Larry's corrupt behavior.
Sadly this story gets repeated over and over. Self important, narcissistic, greedy CEO takes over company and bleeds it dry while living like a king on his salary plus bonuses and then exits with a huge buyout. From Enron to Disney just recently the story is always the same. The only difference being that occasionally someone goes to jail, but mostly the company pays a fine and the perpetrators of the fraud skate. The $700B TARP payout in 2008 comes to mind, as not one executive went to jail, but the companies gladly ponied up a few billion in fines as the government rewarded their behavior while we lost our homes.
There is no doubt in my mind that Larry Scott ruined the Pac-12, took lavish perks, and walked away with millions and will probably have another job shortly, or retire in splendor, while we all pay the price of his malfeasance.
Yes, call in Larry Scott for answers. That's absolutely what's needed. I'd add: investigate. Maybe claw back some of the money he was paid.
But the university presidents aren't going to do that. They breathe the same elitist air Scott does--so they let him continuing to squander millions for years while depriving fans access to the network even after you and Wilner began reporting his abysmal practices. If the college presidents were a corporate board, they would be discharged for malfeasance.
I mean...did you see the exchange of notes between the UCLA and UW presidents over UCLA's failure to disclose its plans to bolt to the Big 10? The UCLA president whines: I was in a bind, sorry. To which the UW president replies: yes, I understand. You've been such a great mentor.
These are the people who hold a Pac 12 commissioner accountable? If my best friend--much less a colleague--did to me what UCLA and USC presidents did to their counterparts, I'd call him on it. But to them, collegiality is more important than accountability. Kumbaya, wine spritzers anyone?
Big picture: the Pac 12 commissioner needs to report to people with business acumen and with spines. Emphasis on the spines.
Good job John. I can’t understand why the university presidents don’t have more power in this process? They need to be investigated also. The PAC 12 seems to have been run like a grade school T-Ball conference with a greedy management team at top. An attorney once told me ignorance of the law is not a defense. Keep up the pressure and investigative reporting.
John, I'm sorry, but I disagree with you that Larry Scott has some questions to answer. Your going after the wrong person. Larry asked for the best contract he could for himself just like you and I would do. The people you need to ask question to are those &$#%($%(&($ people that said "yes, it's ok" to all Larrys demands and did not keep him under control over all those years he was ripping off the Pac-12.
Is it true that when Scott was confronted with his numerous misdeeds, he said, "Let them eat cake"? You have opened a lot of eyes to this corruption, John, and thank you for your excellent coverage of the issue.
I did not see anyone else providing this take so I submit it here. Is it really a surprise that a bunch of university CEOs allowed another CEO to spend a ton of money? After all, these are the same people overseeing a university system whose rising costs for over 30 years has greatly surpassed inflation. All but two of the organizations were public institutions and like most government entities saw rising costs as a plus instead of a negative. There is no incentive to limit costs but instead the opposite. They are incentivized to spend all they get so they can ask for more. The two non-government entities had much larger budgets to begin with due to their sky high tuition based on their reputations.
The fact that he surely knew about this situation but still cashed in $4 mill worth of bonuses and THEN laid people off? Wow. Not only a low life, but apparently, perhaps, a criminal low life. Would love to see the PAC-12 lawyer up and force Scott to speak out of both sides of his face for weeks on end. It would be the very least they could do for him.
Any legal wrangling that can occur to wrestle back those performance bonuses? If not, seems a stock and pillory punishment should be in order at the PAC 12 Championships -- both football and basketball for the same number of years Larry ruled as commissioner.
Feels like racketeering to me.
The PAC 12 university presidents and chancellors should also have to answer for their lack of oversight. The PAC 12 is one of the least transparent worst governed multi billion dollar entities I’ve ever seen and it starts with the presidents and chancellors. As bad as Larry Scott was there is still no evidence that transparency or basic governance has improved.
All true...and why were these guys still around? Anyone remotely in Scott’s circle should have been cleaned out within 30 days of Kliavkoff being hired. House cleaning has long been needed and it isn’t clear that the new guy is up to it. When one takes over an org, and you look back on your first year or two, the thoughts are never “I fired ___too soon”; it’s always realizing that you should have fired them sooner. Kliavkoff has been a disappointment.
Overpayment _from_ a distributor, not to a distributor
SMH. Larry Scott is the 'gift' that keeps on giving.
Crow? How does this man keep his gig at ASU? One of Larry's biggest enablers.
Reading this terrific take makes it harder, at least for me, to be ticked off at SC/UCLA for jumping ship.
I'm no legal expert by any means, but this sounds like something that could rise to the level of criminal actions. I'll bet this isn't the last we discover of ol' Lavish Larry's corrupt behavior.
Sadly this story gets repeated over and over. Self important, narcissistic, greedy CEO takes over company and bleeds it dry while living like a king on his salary plus bonuses and then exits with a huge buyout. From Enron to Disney just recently the story is always the same. The only difference being that occasionally someone goes to jail, but mostly the company pays a fine and the perpetrators of the fraud skate. The $700B TARP payout in 2008 comes to mind, as not one executive went to jail, but the companies gladly ponied up a few billion in fines as the government rewarded their behavior while we lost our homes.
There is no doubt in my mind that Larry Scott ruined the Pac-12, took lavish perks, and walked away with millions and will probably have another job shortly, or retire in splendor, while we all pay the price of his malfeasance.
Unbelievable
Yes, call in Larry Scott for answers. That's absolutely what's needed. I'd add: investigate. Maybe claw back some of the money he was paid.
But the university presidents aren't going to do that. They breathe the same elitist air Scott does--so they let him continuing to squander millions for years while depriving fans access to the network even after you and Wilner began reporting his abysmal practices. If the college presidents were a corporate board, they would be discharged for malfeasance.
I mean...did you see the exchange of notes between the UCLA and UW presidents over UCLA's failure to disclose its plans to bolt to the Big 10? The UCLA president whines: I was in a bind, sorry. To which the UW president replies: yes, I understand. You've been such a great mentor.
These are the people who hold a Pac 12 commissioner accountable? If my best friend--much less a colleague--did to me what UCLA and USC presidents did to their counterparts, I'd call him on it. But to them, collegiality is more important than accountability. Kumbaya, wine spritzers anyone?
Big picture: the Pac 12 commissioner needs to report to people with business acumen and with spines. Emphasis on the spines.
Good job John. Keep digging.
Good job John. I can’t understand why the university presidents don’t have more power in this process? They need to be investigated also. The PAC 12 seems to have been run like a grade school T-Ball conference with a greedy management team at top. An attorney once told me ignorance of the law is not a defense. Keep up the pressure and investigative reporting.
John, I'm sorry, but I disagree with you that Larry Scott has some questions to answer. Your going after the wrong person. Larry asked for the best contract he could for himself just like you and I would do. The people you need to ask question to are those &$#%($%(&($ people that said "yes, it's ok" to all Larrys demands and did not keep him under control over all those years he was ripping off the Pac-12.
Is it true that when Scott was confronted with his numerous misdeeds, he said, "Let them eat cake"? You have opened a lot of eyes to this corruption, John, and thank you for your excellent coverage of the issue.
I did not see anyone else providing this take so I submit it here. Is it really a surprise that a bunch of university CEOs allowed another CEO to spend a ton of money? After all, these are the same people overseeing a university system whose rising costs for over 30 years has greatly surpassed inflation. All but two of the organizations were public institutions and like most government entities saw rising costs as a plus instead of a negative. There is no incentive to limit costs but instead the opposite. They are incentivized to spend all they get so they can ask for more. The two non-government entities had much larger budgets to begin with due to their sky high tuition based on their reputations.