Some directors expected me to liquidate the company.
Grant’s projects carried too much risk.
The brand had become associated with fraud.
Several divisions were barely profitable.
At the first emergency board meeting, one director recommended immediate bankruptcy.
“It limits Bellamy’s exposure,” he said.
“It also eliminates six thousand jobs,” I replied.
“We cannot run a corporation as a charity.”
“No. But we also cannot pretend leadership decisions belong only to the people in this room.”
I commissioned an independent review.
The profitable divisions were separated from Grant’s speculative projects.
Pensions moved into protected accounts.
Employees received representation on the restructuring committee.
Contractors owed less than five hundred thousand dollars were paid before executive creditors.
We sold the yacht.
The Miami apartment.
Two private aircraft.
Grant’s collection of antique cars.
Mavis’s personal art holdings turned out to belong partly to the company.
They were auctioned.
The proceeds covered unpaid health-insurance contributions.
