TechDuty

Came across this rather interesting news about Broadcom CEO Henry T. Nicholas III.    He has been indicted for drugging technology executives and customer service representatives. (see indictment docs).  According the the story  "Broadcom Corp. co-founder Henry T. Nicholas III was indicted on federal narcotics charges that include allegations he slipped ecstasy into the drinks of business associates, maintained a drug warehouse and concealed his illegal conduct with bribes and death threats."

So I decided to do some research on Mr. Nicholas's background.  According to this page on Wikipedia, "Dr. Nicholas lived in Glendale, Ohio until he was 4 years old. His father was an attorney with the IRS and his mother was a teacher and later an administrator at the Princeton School district in theatre. At that time, his parents divorced and he moved with his mother (Marcella) and sister (Marsalee) to Los Angeles where his mother planned to get her Masters degree in drama from UCLA. It was at UCLA that she met Bob Leach, her second husband, and Nick’s “real dad.” Dr. Nicholas attended elementary schools in Malibu and Santa Monica High School."

"Dr. Nicholas received a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, after having attended the United States Air Force Academy previously and then both a Masters Degree and Ph.d. in Electrical Engineering from UCLA. It was at UCLA that Dr. Nicholas met Dr. Henry Samueli, his future partner".

So, what is really interesting here is that this guy's father was an attorney yet he didn't think that it was necessary to follow the law.   Makes me wonder about the psychology when someone who is a billionaire gets involved into such illegal activities.  Is it just the feeling of being invincible? 

Broadcom Corporate Site