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CLINTON PAL EYEBALLED - ACCUSED OF LIVING HIGH ON HIS COMPANY'S DIME
New York Post (NY)
October 2, 2005
Author: Tim Arango
Estimated printed pages: 3
VINOD Gupta, a high-living CEO pal and fundraiser to the Clintons, is being accused of looting his company's coffers and using shareholder money to fund his lavish lifestyle.
Gupta, the CEO of InfoUSA, an Omaha, Neb.-based database company, is coming under fire from investors, including Cardinal Capital, the Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund whose last target was newspaper baron Conrad Black, for a variety of alleged offenses, including funneling InfoUSA funds through private companies he controls to pay for things such as jet travel, a fancy yacht and a skybox at University of Nebraska football games.
Gupta did not return a call placed to his office in Omaha.
Despite presiding over a company in a decidedly unsexy industry in an unsexy locale, Gupta moves in elite social circles. He was a guest of the Clintons at the White House, staying in the Lincoln Bedroom, donated $1 million to the Clinton library and helped Hillary Clinton raise money for her senate campaign.
In 2001, Bill Clinton - then an ex-president - was forced to return a $7,000 treadmill sent to him by Gupta after The Post reported on the gift. And just before leaving office, Clinton appointed Gupta to the board of trustees at the Kennedy Center, a seat he still holds.
The alleged corporate shenanigans that caught the eyes of investors began this year, when in March Gupta said publicly he believed In foUSA - a Nasdaq- listed company of which he owns 35 percent - was worth more than $18 a share. Three months later, the company issued an earnings warning, sending shares plummeting 21 percent. Five days later, Gupta made an offer of $11.75 per share in a bid to take the company private.
That offer was rejected by a board special committee, which was promptly disbanded, raising the ire of investors who felt the company should have solicited other offers.
Both Cardinal and another major investor, Dolphin Limited Partnership, have sought books and records from the company, something they have the right to do under Delaware law.
According to a press release, Dolphin is seeking information on "transactions and payments between the company and its CEO and his affiliates relating to the use or acquisition of planes, boats, skyboxes and other assets."
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This Gupta guy was also a gifter. I remember his name from the first Guild threads.
You know, there's sometimes a rather fine line between "shrewd businessman" and "crook in a $1000 suit".
bttt