Dennis Kozlowski: Prisoner 05A4820

Morley Safer Speaks With The Ex-Tyco Chief Behind Bars

(CBS)  Wall Street couldn’t get enough of the young aggressive CEO. He also began making staggering amounts of money, among the top earning CEOs in the country.

"We had a pay-for-performance culture at Tyco," explains Kozlowski. "So, most of the money I earned was in the appreciation of Tyco stock."

"One year you made, I think, $170 million," Safer remarks.

"I'm not sure 170, but I made over $100 million, yeah," the former CEO acknowledges.

Asked what it was like to earn that kind of money, Kozlowski says, "It's a way of keeping score, I guess."

Keeping score meant keeping up with the masters of the universe – $30 million to build a mansion in Florida, plus acquiring homes in Nantucket and Colorado. And for $16 million, he bought a vintage yacht, "Endeavour."

Wealth meant one thing, social acceptance another. He and his second wife Karen Mayo decided art was one way of getting it. They spent millions on paintings and he joined the board of the Whitney Museum.

For a pied-à-terre in New York, he had Tyco buy a $19 million apartment and decorated it with $11 million worth of stuff. The poor kid from Newark had made it to Fifth Avenue.

"Would Dennis Kozlowski, a few years ago, even [have] contemplated going to Europe to buy old master paintings?" Safer asks.

"No, absolutely not," Kozlowski admits. "You know, it came with earning the amount of money I was earning at the time."

Kozlowski says joining the board of the Whitney Museum wasn't his idea – he was invited. And he says he never made a board meeting.

"But you were invited because they like having really rich guys on the board, correct?" Safer asks.

"I assume it wasn't for my knowledge of art," Kozlowski says.

But it was the purchase of that art that would lead to his undoing. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office happened to be investigating art galleries that were helping customers avoid sales tax. Kozlowski had purchased $13 million worth of paintings, including a Renoir and Monet, for the Tyco apartment, but prosecutors said he had them shipped to Tyco's offices in New Hampshire – a state without sales tax. They were then trucked back to New York.

In 2002, The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office indicted Kozlowski for evading over $1 million in sales tax and he resigned as CEO of Tyco.

But that was only the beginning. The Tyco board investigated its CEO's behavior and made public a report that was devastating; Kozlowski’s excesses were revealed in excruciating detail.

Decorations for the New York apartment became classic tabloid headlines, mocking the CEO’s taste and his greed, like the $15,000 doggy umbrella stand and the ultimate symbol of his downfall: a $6,000 shower curtain.

Kozlowski says the media coverage was "horrible." Yet he did sign off on the décor.

"I signed off on a decorator to decorate, you know, the Tyco apartment. And, beyond that, that was my involvement. I, the first time I heard about that shower curtain, the first time was after I was out of the company and I read about it in a newspaper. And I was calling around asking: 'Where is this shower curtain?' But to this day, I wouldn't know it if it fell on me," he tells Safer.

And then there was the 40th birthday party for Kozlowski’s wife Karen on Sardinia. It was togas galore, a four day festival of flesh. Jimmy Buffett was flown in for the music and guests were treated to a special cake: an anatomically correct woman with exploding breasts.

The cost of the party was over $2 million; since Kozlowski claimed it was in part a work retreat, Tyco footed half the bill.

During the trial, jurors were shown a tape of the party. Kozlowski says it was "absolutely horrible."

"It was over the top, you know. I was taken aback by it, but I smiled and worked my through it, wanted the night to end as fast as I could," he recalls.

"Donald Trump called your behavior tacky," Safer remarks.

"Tacky? Tacky from Donald Trump?" Kozlowski replies. "Wow. But he would know."

Those excesses may have been tacky, but tacky doesn’t send you to jail. Far more serious was the allegation that Kozlowski literally stole money from Tyco.

He and his second-in-command Mark Swartz were charged with stealing $170 million and pocketing an additional $430 million through the sale of company stock, while lying about Tyco’s financial condition.

[acajudi]

He deserved more than he took. He took that company from nothing to billions. He should have just been upfront on what he was spending. I do wish him the best.

[nvanliew]

morley safer acted like he was interviewing Bono from U2 or Eddie Murphy. 60 minutes presented Koz like his *** don't stink - they should be ashamed of themselves. white collar white guys get relatively little jail time because no one is physically hurt OR threatened during the crime. blue collar black guys get a lot of jail time because they strong arm. why should there be any difference, because white collar crime is a more-refined, country club-style of stealing. this country's felony laws are SAD!!!!!!

[brucebennet1]

Dear 60 Minutes Producers %u2013

C%u2019mon folks, help me understand the objective of the Dennis Kozlowski segment? I kept waiting for the %u2018uh-huh%u2019 that would give me a clue as to what I was supposed to derive out of this meaningless feature. With an appeal filed, Mr. Kozlowski wouldn%u2019t/couldn%u2019t comment on his convicted crime, motivation or rationale behind it any further than to talk of what life has been like since he%u2019s been serving his sentence. Further, I failed to see any remorse or discernable shift in his outlook on life by virtue of going through this which I doubt would have any impact on his appeal. Even Morley Safer tried to fish some interest out of this interview with his inviting comment about people in similar circumstance finding religion. Mr. Kozlowski replied little on the subject. I%u2019m sure that any planned segment of your show can fall short of meeting the intended objective. But after reviewing the raw footage, didn%u2019t anyone ask, %u2018what was that all about?%u2019 Contrary to your objective stance, next time we see a Dennis Kozlowski interview, please help the viewer leap for a conclusion. Not surprising that the title was merely his Prisoner ID versus a title w/ a point of view. You can and have done better than this. Dennis is convicted of corporate stealing and owes restitution. 60 Minutes and Dennis stole 15 minutes of my life last night and now you owe me.

[aldewitt-2009]

Boo hoo. Cry me a river. Tyco has a reputation for being a cut-throat competitor and it has been hit with a lot of judgments for patent infringement and unfair competition in the medical device industry. Deal a Day Dennis deserves a nice dank prison cell and a really long time to ponder his failings. He hurt a lot of people by stealing money from Tyco and acting like it was his own piggy bank. While CBS may feel sorry for Dennis, I feel sorry for his victims.

[ewvdt]

I saw you on 60 Minutes last night and I think you got a raw deal, Dennis.
You made TYCO into the company it is today. In no way must you be included in the crooks of Enron and Worldcom.
The board is guilty of giving you carte blanche on the way you spent the money and by their inaction.

I'm your age, a working stiff @$4300/month and I hope you're humbled, forget about all the superficial characters that used to cheer you on including your ex for who you threw that crazy party.

If I ever meet you in person I'll buy you a cup of coffee and I don't need any favors from you.
Remember where you came from; you don't have to impress the "upper echelon" snobs, be humble.

Good luck my friend, I hope your appeal works in your favor!

[ewvdt]

I saw you on 60 Minutes last night and I think you got a raw deal, Dennis.
You made TYCO into the company it is today. In no way must you be included in the crooks of Enron and Worldcom.
The board is guilty of giving you carte blanche on the way you spent the money and by their inaction.

I'm your age, a working stiff @$4300/month and I hope you're humbled, forget about all the superficial characters that used to cheer you on including your ex for who you threw that crazy party.

If I ever meet you in person I'll buy you a cup of coffee and I don't need any favors from you.
Remember where you came from; you don't have to impress the "upper echelon" snobs, be humble.

Good luck my friend, I hope your appeal works in your favor!

[ewvdt]

I saw you on 60 Minutes last night and I think you got a raw deal, Dennis.
You made TYCO into the company it is today. In no way must you be included in the crooks of Enron and Worldcom.
The board is guilty of giving you carte blanche on the way you spent the money and by their inaction.

I'm your age, a working stiff @$4300/month and I hope you're humbled, forget about all the superficial characters that used to cheer you on including your ex for who you threw that crazy party.

If I ever meet you in person I'll buy you a cup of coffee and I don't need any favors from you.
Remember where you came from; you don't have to impress the "upper echelon" snobs, be humble.

Good luck my friend, I hope your appeal works in your favor!

[ewvdt]

I saw you on 60 Minutes last night and I think you got a raw deal, Dennis.
You made TYCO into the company it is today. In no way must you be included in the crooks of Enron and Worldcom.
The board is guilty of giving you carte blanche on the way you spent the money and by their inaction.

I'm your age, a working stiff @$4300/month and I hope you're humbled, forget about all the superficial characters that used to cheer you on including your ex for who you threw that crazy party.

If I ever meet you in person I'll buy you a cup of coffee and I don't need any favors from you.
Remember where you came from; you don't have to impress the "upper echelon" snobs, be humble.

Good luck my friend, I hope your appeal works in your favor!

[ewvdt]

You got a raw deal, Dennis.
You made TYCO into the company it is today. In no way must you be included in the crooks of Enron and Worldcom.
The board is guilty of giving you carte blanche on the way you spent the money and by their inaction.

I'm your age, a working stiff @$4300/month and I hope you're humbled, forget about all the superficial characters that used to cheer you on including your ex for who you threw that crazy party.

If I ever meet you in person I'll buy you a cup of coffee.
Remember where you came from; you dont have to impress the "upper echelon" snobs, be humble.

Good luck my friend, I hope your appeal works in your favor!

[ewvdt]

You got a raw deal, Dennis.
You made TYCO into the company it is today. In no way you must be included in the crooks of Enron and Worldcom.
The board is guilty of giving you carte blanche on the way you spent the money and by their inaction.

I'm your age, a working stiff @$4300/month and I hope you're humbled, forget about all the superficial characters that used to cheer you on including your ex for who you threw that crazy party.

If I ever meet you in person I'll buy you a cup of coffee. Remember where you came from; you dont have to impress the "upper echelon", be humble.

Good luck my friend, I hope your appeal works in your favor!

[ewvdt]

I think you got a raw deal, Dennis, and I sincerely hope that your eventual appeal of your sentencing will bear fruit in your favor.
As I see it, you just made the mistake of being too showy and thereby creating envy.
You made Tyco corp. what it is today. The board gave you carte blanche.
In no way are you to be included in the crooks that ran Enron and Worldcom.

This working class stiff @$4300/month/61 years old would buy you a cup of coffee in a heartbeat.
All your buddies left you including that woman you had that crazy party for.
Shallow, superficial people!

Thank you for sharing your story and I wish you the best for the future!

[ewvdt]

I think you got a raw deal, Dennis, and I sincerely hope that your eventual appeal of your sentencing will bear fruit in your favor.
As I see it, you just made the mistake of being too showy and thereby creating envy.
You made Tyco corp. what it is today. The board gave you carte blanche.
In no way are you to be included in the crooks that ran Enron and Worldcom.

This working class stiff ($4300/month)would buy you a cup of coffee in a heartbeat. All your buddies left you including that woman you had that party for. Shallow people!
Thank you for sharing your story and I wish you the best for the future!

[mbpfrance]

Dennis, no matter how tough it gets....this too shall pass! Hang in there, you know in prison innocent or not you are still 'in prison'!

You are not alone.

For friends who passed you by there wil be others who dont care so much for the $ and simply share a cup of coffee!

[oakishpines]

see all my millionaire enemies, preaching expensive guns and drugs: go get them ... see all my friends, shopgifting grass and dirt for cures for cancer and other margaritas ... i'll worship my trillions and the weapons the best of best weapons they conjure and sell and i'll adore my poor destitute quality neighbors suffering their trifles while i give them foot ball and base ball and expensive pills most can't even afford to have shoved down their throats ... maybe giveng market share to normal folk is a bad idea because fascists would see it as fresh meat for the grinder and flock to the slave and slaughter ... see all my millionaire enemys preaching expensive guns and drugs ... i'll worship my trillions and all the fresh meat they buy for the fascists racing toward my slave and slaughter

[neoconrcrazy]

Taking someone else's money and adding it to your own does not create wealth, it redistributes it into fewer hands, and in doing so creates poverty for those who lost it.
Posted by brianbwb


or how about the LBO's ? Take a company over, by adding tremendous debt, financed by banks, then place the new shares on the market (AAA rating!)

the private equity sharks take the first bite, filling their pockets, the banks get another chunk, and the new shareholders get stuck with the losses! Great game!

or; the banks can't unload the debt on the market, get stuck with it on their books; what to do? Like a miracle, interet rates rise and everyone chips in to pay it off. What a great system!

[brianbwb-2009]

This is an argument that only those that are creating wealth would understand. I think before you judge from a poor persons mentality, you need to walk, deal with the trials and tribulations of a rich man gone through the storm!
Posted by sevanteX

Poor little rich man, maybe now that he is "broke", he will know what real problems are, how to get your next meal, how to pay this month's bills, how to have even a roof over your head.

Wealth "creation"? no such thing, son, the finite number of dollars means that it is a zero sum game. Taking someone else's money and adding it to your own does not create wealth, it redistributes it into fewer hands, and in doing so creates poverty for those who lost it.

[patricia2222-2009]

Yes, His wife should have been charged too, I am very compassionate for him & very sorry he let this happen to him, if ouI could have his address so I can send him some prayers, Thank You.

[neenga]

And Congress doesn't apporove increasing the rich's taxes and lowering taxes for the poor and middle-class citizens? We, as Americans, are idiots not to force this issue. People who make this much money (1) need a lot of oversight by the govt. and (2) should be paying taxes out their a$$es, considering all of the hardworking citizens who not only pay taxes but obey the freaking LAWS of this country.

[seavon]

i just like to say why you tend to put thiefs on your show.. just to boast about thier inmoral behavior, of thier lives,do you think i like seeing these crooks smile and boasting about thier life,, and all the money the stole,
,Dennis Kozlowski: Prisoner 05A4820
if you want to waste air time in M,F, PEOPLE like these,, them you need to give me the same amount of air time just to promote my business,, and all the good that we are doing here in RIO TINTO honduras,, but i know you're not going to waste your time on simple american people like me,, my story is useless you to,, so i challange you ,,,

being that i'm not a killer, or a theif, my story is useless.. but thank you..

seavon.com

[brucesmall]

"Martha Stewart case as I should be, my recollection is that she in no way looted her company, nor stole from anyone else."

Martha Stewart, with insider knowledge, sold her stock knowing the price would go down, and somebody out there, without that insider knowledge, bought that stock and promptly lost a good chunk of his or her money. She in effect stole from him, which is why insider trading is a crime.