Henry Samueli

Henry Samueli asked a federal appeals panel today to uphold his plea bargain in the Broadcom Corp. stock manipulation case, an agreement that would allow the billionaire Anaheim Ducks owner to escape a prison sentence after pleading guilty to lying and paying a special fine of $12 million. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney in Santa Ana had refused to accept Samueli's deal with prosecutors a year ago, saying it "gives the impression that justice is for sale." The Broadcom co-founder and former chairman sat with his wife, Susan, in a Pasadena courtroom as his attorney, Gordon Greenberg, asked a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Carney's ruling.

Prosecutors on Friday portrayed a former Broadcom Corp. chief financial officer as a liar who conspired with co-founders Henry T. Nicholas III and Henry Samueli to hide billions of dollars in compensation from regulators and investors in the Irvine technology firm. Rather than reward Broadcom's microchip engineers with high salaries, the former financial executive, William J. Ruehle, schemed for years to improperly backdate stock options, giving them extra value that wasn't acknowledged, because "every dollar you pay is one less dollar on the bottom line," Assistant U.S. Atty.

A former Broadcom Corp. executive agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle claims that she participated in a scheme to backdate stock options, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday. Nancy Tullos, former vice president of human resources at the Irvine-based chip maker, pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice this year in a deal with prosecutors. Tullos is expected to cooperate with prosecutors who are investigating Broadcom co-founders Henry T. Nicholas III and Henry Samueli in the case.

The Broadcom Corp. founders accused of engineering a massive stock fraud have always been a study in contrasts: Henry Samueli, the professorial strategist who bought the NHL's Anaheim Ducks, and Henry T. Nicholas III, the driven deal maker whose personal life has made headlines. The differences seem to extend to the lawyers they've chosen to defend them against federal allegations. Nicholas has hired a roomful of high-profile lawyers known for famous courtroom defenses, including Brendan V.

I loved the federal lawsuit last week that led Henry Samueli to step down as chairman of one of the most storied companies in Orange County history. It's not what you may think: I didn't get some sick delight in seeing a rich man get knocked down a peg. I'll leave that particular behavioral trait to certain segments of my readership (you know who you are). No, I loved it because it raises provocative questions about judging people.

Broadcom's co-founder and former chief executive spent six hours Wednesday inside a federal courthouse in Santa Ana, the same day a grand jury met as part of its ongoing probe into possible allegations of accounting fraud and stock option backdating. Henry T. Nicholas III declined to comment as he left the courthouse in the late afternoon. Federal prosecutors and law enforcement officials also declined to comment. Prosecutors have previously called Nicholas and co-founder Henry Samueli "unindicted potential co-conspirators" in the grand jury investigation.

Technology billionaire and philanthropist Henry Samueli pleaded guilty Monday to a felony charge of lying to regulators about his role in an alleged plot to secretly reward his Broadcom Corp. employees by manipulating stock options. Under a deal with prosecutors, Samueli pleaded guilty in federal court in Santa Ana to making a false statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The government is recommending five years' probation and $12.

Broadcom Corp. and the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Two highly visible operations headed until recently by relatively young men of power and charm. The kind of guys who inspired others while basking in their own success and the prospect of more of it to come. Until the feds came calling, that is. The two -- Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli and former Sheriff Mike Carona -- have spent 2008 in the cross-hairs of federal prosecutors.

What's in a name? A lot, at least at two engineering schools in Southern California named after high-tech billionaire and generous donor Henry Samueli. The Samueli name could be stripped from engineering schools at UCLA and UC Irvine as a result of his recent guilty plea to a felony charge of lying to financial regulators. A review of the issue is being launched by the University of California's general counsel, officials said.

Henry Samueli, the billionaire co-founder of Broadcom and owner of the Anaheim Ducks, was dismissed last month from the Orange County Sheriff's Department reserve program after pleading guilty to a felony charge of lying to regulators about his role in an alleged plot to secretly reward employees by manipulating stock options. Samueli turned in his badge and ID card within days of receiving a June 25 letter from the Sheriff's Department informing him that his services were no longer needed.