Buck stops with the top bucks

Apparently, it's a radical notion that well-compensated CEOs should be capable of running their companies and know what their companies are doing, according to The New York Times:

The conviction on Friday of L. Dennis Kozlowski, the former chief executive of Tyco, on charges of grand larceny and conspiracy is underscoring what legal analysts say is perhaps the most surprising consequence of the explosion in corporate pay during the 1990's: a heightened expectation that executives know how to do their jobs and understand what is happening at their companies.

Indeed, coming after the convictions of other top executives - including Bernard J. Ebbers, the former chief executive of WorldCom, on charges of accounting fraud, and John J. Rigas, the former chief of Adelphia Communications, on charges of conspiring to loot the company - the Kozlowski verdict demonstrates that, at a criminal trial, high pay scales can serve as the government's Exhibit A of the defendant's potential knowledge of wrongdoing.

"One of the perils of being paid an enormous amount of money is that people will ultimately conclude that you're worth it," said Robert A. Mintz, a former federal prosecutor who is now a partner at McCarter & English in Newark. "The assumption jurors will reach is that somebody who receives large compensation is playing a critical role at the company, and a defense that you were more cheerleader than ringleader is going to be very difficult for a jury to buy."