Chapter 15, Too Full of Myself Summary and Analysis

Fresh from the RCA and Employers Reinsurance successes, Jack feels invincible. He believes he can make anything work. He decides to acquire Kidder, Peabody, one of Wall Street's oldest investment banking firms. Logically, the Kidder acquisition makes sense, but rather than providing GE access to new distribution without paying the big brokerage house fees, GE finds itself in the middle of a huge public Wall Street insider trading scandal. Marty Siegel, a Kidder superstar investment banker admits to trading insider stock tips in exchange for suitcases full of cash.

Although the illegal trading occurs prior to GE's acquisition, GE, as the new owner is legally responsible to investigate, cooperate with the SEC and Giuliani, and determine the weakness of the firm's control system. Jack calls former GE Board member, Si Cathcart, to come...