Samueli owns the Ducks outright. There's no reason that he won't "be in charge" of the Ducks. The Ducks are an entirely separate entity from Broadcom.
Based on the newspaper stories, Samueli isn't even being accused of profiting from the back-dated options, and I saw no mention of him being asked to pay anything back! Near as I can tell, they're just holding him responsible since he was the "chairman" of the company, and believe he shouldn't be allowed to be on the board of a "publicly held company" based on the failure to prevent them.
He'll still be filthy rich...he'll still own the Ducks...he'll still own a huge chunk of Broadcom....and Broadcom will still be making money. If anything, he'll now have more time to devote to his other ventures...including the Ducks.
I'm actually surprised he stepped down as Chairman. Seems like a very honorable thing to do, pending the outcome of the suit, but it doesn't appear to be a requirement at this point.
Hey, it could all blow up into something else if there's more to the story. There's a small hint of that when they open up the possibility of criminal charges. But that seems pretty remote.
But right now, the "punishment" being sought by the Feds is entirely organizational at Broadcom, and has nothing to do with the Ducks. I don't think it deserves to be anything more than an interesting source of gossip within the Ducks organization.
I am glad you think this is nothing "more than an interesting source of gossip within the Ducks organization". I wish I felt the same. Did you not notice Henry Samueli's face on the cover of the OC Register with the headline that blazoned
"Ducks owner resigns from (who cares) after 'massive' fraud scheme accusations"?
How is the owner of the Ducks being indicted for "massive fraud" by the SEC and publicized by the LAT and the OCR not at least as much of a distraction as the GM being "rumored" to considering taking a job with another franchise?
There is no question that at least in Southern California (population of near 24 million) that the great majority of people are way more interested in "massive corporate fraud" scandals than some potential NHL employee poaching story.
I agree that criminal charges would be a much bigger story than the current civil charges. But I think the view that this situation hasn't already blown into a greatly bigger deal is mistaken. The trouble has grown from fairly impersonal corporate legal haggling with only one "small" scapegoat to hang it on (the poor lower level employee who had to give up some $1.2mil of her holdings) to a separate lawsuit that names most all the top level people as defendants, not only including Henry Samueli but tying him together with people whom most likely (at least a couple) will be found guilty of corporate fraud.
Wait a little while and we'll see if the gossip spreads outside the Ducks water cooler to say... the Toronto media. Once it hits there, you will have a hard time scoffing at the potential side-show distraction effect it has on the hockey end of the franchise.
Add: But I honestly hope you are right. I would hate to see some corporate mistakes made by others taint the good name and the good works the Samueli's have brought this franchise. My gut feeling is that Brian Burke cares a heck of a lot more than I or any of us do since he has pitched in with them, and that he has a lot greater stake in the outcome of this scandal. I hope the two interests don't come to loggerheads.
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