Why Executives Lie: "Just Promoting!"
Thursday, October 7, 2004 at 7:07AM The Wall Street Journal, and other news sources, reported on October 4, 2004, that Oracle put on evidence, at the first day of trial in a suit agianst it by Peoplesoft over Oracles takeover attempt, that Peoplesoft CEO, Craig Conway lied to investors about the impact of the takeover.
On the stand, PeopleSoft director Steven Goldby said Peoplesoft fired Conway for telling analysts that the Oracle takeover bid was no longer a factor in PeopleSoft's ability to write new business. In a deposition taken to prepare for the trial, Conway admitted he had not told the truth to analysts about the impact of a continued Oracle takeover threat on PeopleSoft's sales.
"I was promoting , promoting , promoting ," Conway said at the deposition. Conway said off-the-cuff statements to analysts that the Oracle impact was over were made at a time when he was "hoping for a self-fulfilling prophecy ."
Goldby said the deposition discussion of what he called Conway 's "situational ethics" contributed to the decision to fire the CEO, but was not the sole cause. "We knew that Conway had misspoken and what he had said was untrue," said PeopleSoft director Goldby. Mr. Goldby said the board hadn't considered Mr. Conway's original misstatements to be cause for dismissal. But he said he was surprised by Mr. Conway's "situational ethics," as disclosed in the deposition.
See PeopleSoft Saga Described at Trial
Director Testifies Behavior
Of CEO Led Board to Mull
Dismissal Several Times
By PEG BRICKLEY and DAVID BANK
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 5, 2004; Page A3
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