Book Review: Taking Down the Lion

The book, Taking Down the Lion: The Triumphant Rise and Tragic Fall of Tyco's Dennis Kozlowski by Catherine Neal, takes an interesting twist on the rise and scandalous fall of Dennis Kozlowski, former CEO of Tyco (TYC), sometimes known as the "$6,000 shower curtain man".

It is interesting to note that  Kozlowski and Tyco have been bunched into the same group as Enron, Worldcom, and Global Crossing; however, those three companies all suffered bankruptcy and went out of business (at least in their former state). Yet, Tyco has been going strong ever since the scandal in 2002, splitting apart into three separate entities in 2007.

Catherine Neal takes a very close look at the court cases and rulings, and covers the facts surrounding the legal events, giving a unique view to what really happened. The book is very, very thorough, even including excerpts from court transcripts.

My favorite section of the book was The Party subsection of Chapter 8 - The Good Old Days.

The book covers the issues between the Tyco Board of Directors and Dennis Koslowski in Chapter 11, a key turn of events in the downward slope of Koslowski's life. The book then continues on with the surprise indictment, then the court trials. The author believes that Kozlowski didn't commit any crimes. You need to read the book to see her reasoning.

If you want to read the most complete coverage of the Kozlowski/Tyco scandal, read the book, Taking Down the Lion: The Triumphant Rise and Tragic Fall of Tyco's Dennis Kozlowski.