Finlay ON Governance
The straight goods on ethics, governance and leadership. Insights and commentary on today's news and tomorrows headlines you won't see, hear or read anywhere else. Immediate Media InquiryBoardroom of Felons
We have received a number of emails from readers who were shocked at the revelation, first brought to light on these pages, that, between them, the boards of Livent and Hollinger had seven directors who became convicted felons. Here’s another gem: three of them were...
Conrad Black’s Losses Mount; Chances of a Presidential Pardon Do Not
Former newspaper baron Conrad M. Black's losing streak continues unarrested. He lost control of his Hollinger companies and all his prized newspaper holdings. He lost what was left of the Argus group he essentially inherited. He lost his criminal case, which was...
The Less than August Summer of Conrad Black
The Hollinger newspaper empire he once ruled sputters to an ignominious end; the appeal he boasted waxed the floor with the prosecution results in unanimous defeat. Even his prison garb pant legs defy the once exacting baronial standards of symmetry and perfection....
Conrad Black: Lord of What Might Have Been
How strange it is that success can be such an impostor and only a warm-up for the main act of self-inflicted tragedy yet to arrive. When Lord Kylsant of Carmarthen lost all hope of appeal in 1931, the wealthy titan was taken off and spent the next year in London's...
The Baron of Baggage
Of all the indignities Conrad Black has had to endure, much of them admittedly at his own hands, none has been more symbolic than to go from being lauded as a British baron to being dismissed as a piece of “baggage” by the company he once headed. In our view, it has...
The Ides of March Beckons Conrad Black
Conrad Black's freedom can now be measured in days -31 to be precise- as a result of U.S. federal court judge Amy St. Eve's decision to deny the request of Mr. Black and his co-defendants to remain free while their appeals are considered. The judge found that no...
Do-little OSC Does Less Again With Conrad Black
The Ontario Securities Commission has again, for the sixth occasion, delayed its proceedings against Conrad Black. This time, the hearing that was to have commenced on January 8th has been rescheduled for the end of March, the same month that Mr. Black has a rather...
Hollinger Sets Another Record –And Not a Good One
Never have so many directors of a single publicly traded company been convicted on criminal charges in connection with their duties as board members. With the formal sentencing yesterday of F. David Radler today on one count of fraud following the prison terms set...
Is Elba or St. Helena Next for Conrad Black?
The otherwise avoidable fall of great men from high places always commands public attention and often history’s scorn. It is difficult to know what the future holds for Conrad Black. We learned yesterday that he has been sentenced to 6 1/2 years in a U.S. federal...
Is it Time for Hollinger (and Sun-Times Media) to Go?
It may be better to let these damaged and discredited names sink ignominiously into the history books as a cautionary lesson to all stakeholders in how not to run a company. The National Post recently took a look at the pitiable state of Hollinger Inc., and its...