Financial guru Wade Cook and “Queen of Mean” Leona Helmsley go down.
Under watch:
Former investment guru, author and speaker Wade Cook, sentenced to prison as part of a tax evasion case in which he was found to have repeatedly defrauded the IRS. He was ordered to pay $3.75 million in back taxes on $9.5 million generated from sales of financial books, tapes and seminars in the late ’90s. His wife, Laura, previously pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and admitted she created false documents with the intent to understate income. While Cook’s net worth was at one time estimated at $200 million, his publicly traded company, Wade Cook Financial Corp., filed under Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2003. Just what were Wade and Laura Cook thinking? As usual, we offer the benefit of the doubt in assuming that alcoholism was the reason they thought they were all-powerful–even more so than the U.S. government.
“Queen of Mean” Leona Helmsley, heir to the Helmsley hotels, dead at 87 after exhibiting indications of distorted thinking, impaired judgment and egomania for decades. In 1989, Helmsley was convicted of tax evasion for actions resulting from her belief that “only little people pay taxes,” having attempted to bury millions in personal expenses on company books. She reportedly subjected employees to volatile mood swings, frequently shouting obscenities at staff for having dirty fingernails or finding even a piece of lint on the floor, and then firing them. She was known for tirades, a short temper and a Jekyll and Hyde personality. Worse, she engaged in one of the most extreme cases of revenge based on a false accusation ever. Her son, Jay, died from a heart attack after having suffered from heart disease for many years. At a gathering prior to the funeral, she lunged towards one of Jay’s children, Craig, accusing the fourteen-year-old boy of “killing his father.” She also blamed her son’s third wife, Mimi, for his death and vowed to “destroy” her. She unsuccessfully tried to bill Mimi for air transportation of Jay’s casket. Two months later, Leona evicted Mimi and her children from their home, which was owned by a subsidiary of Helmsley Enterprises. She sued Mimi and the estate that she and Jay’s four children divided amongst themselves at least six times. Mimi was ultimately left almost penniless.
Hardly anyone, close or not, could comprehend how someone could be as mean as Helmsley was on countless occasions. Such actions are beyond comprehension–unless we hypothesize alcohol or pharmaceutical drug addiction. Then it all makes perfect sense.