The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "deal maker" ...
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The rise and fall of Denny Hecker
Denny Hecker is one of the” biggest, most well-known businessmen in the Twin Cities”. He owned car dealerships, a national car rental company, and was the star of many advertisements. Behind this perfect exterior is a story of criminal behaviors and massive debt. All these details were revealed after Hecker filed for personal bankruptcy, which began the “collapse of a massive empire”.
Tags: loans; revenue; money; fortune; recession; deal maker; financial; finances; assets; FOIA; lawsuits
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The Deal Makers
An investigation by the Washington Post revealed that America Online "was using a series of unconventional transactions to sustain the appearance of breakneck growth in ad revenue" -- even after the Internet boom subsided and it merged with Time Warner. " Time Warner executives were "mesmerized by the hundreds of millions of dollars in online advertising pouring into AOL ... (and) even when the bubble popped and dot-coms collapsed, AOL continued to report record-breaking growth in ad revenue, reinforcing its image as the medium of the future and overwhelming any second thoughts from Time Warner shareholders and employees." What Time Warner didn't know was that, "among other things, AOL turned legal disputes into ad deals, converted long-term contracts into one-time balloon payments, shifted revenue from one division to another, bartered ads for computer equipment and sold ads on behalf of eBay while booking all the sales as its own... (The) stories immediately prompted two federal investigations of AOL Time Warner."
Tags: America Online; AOL; Time Warner; AOL Time Warner; Enron; advertising revenue; merger; balloon payments; contracts; Internet boom; dot-coms
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Medicine's Middlemen
An investigation by the New York Times revealed that "just two companies could determine which life-saving drugs and other medical products most of the nation's hospitals bought and at what price. As national gatekeepers for billions of dollars in hospitals supply contracts, these two companies used their unregulated power to enrich themselves through pervasive conflicts of interest and self dealing... Until the Times examined them, these two for-profit companies, Premier and Novation, operated as they wished. They claimed they saved hospitals money by buying in bulk -- but never had to prove it. As private companies with no government oversight, they refused to disclose how they did business, including how much money the makers of the drugs and medical devices were paying them to get supply contracts. In this environment, Premier executives collected millions in personal stock options from the very manufacturers whose company products they were supposed to evaluate objectively. The buying companies steered thousands of hospitals to manufacturers in which the buying companies themselves had a financial interest."
Tags: Premier; Novation; drugs; medical; medicine; conflict of interest; private business; stock options
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Pack of Renegades: Tobacco Deal Has Unintended Effect: New discount Smokes
This Wall Street Journal story looks at the proliferation of small makers of low-price cigarettes, while large tobacco companies experience times of trouble. The story reveals that "some cut-rate smokes are selling for as little as $1 a pack, compared with an average retail price of more than $3 fro big-name brands." The analysis finds that the "rise of small manufacturers means big companies pay less to the states." The reporter points out that the low-price producers decline to sign the national tobacco settlement and complain that it unfairly penalizes them, while in the meantime their market share is increasing.
Tags: tobacco; settlement; states; business; litigation; Fifth amendment; escrow payments
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Sheldon Adelson
The Las Vegas Sun examined the story of "...Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who parlayed the sale of the world's largest trade show into [the] construction of a major casino on the famed Las Vegas Strip."
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Lawyers could get billions in tobacco deal
A Seattle Times analysis reveals that "private lawyers representing 40 states in their suits against the tobacco industry stand to get more than $14.7 billion over 25 years if the national settlement between the states and cigarette makers is approved by Congress and the White House."
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You Loss, We Gain
This investigation uncovered how a software saleswoman sold more than 14 million dollars worth of software to the state of Georgia with little or no competition and that one of the state's key decision-makers in the two deals is now her fiance.
Tags: TAPE; computer; fraud; company; technology
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No title (id: 13869)
San Francisco investment banker Calvin Grigsby was a master deal maker and one of the most powerful -- and controversial -- financiers on Wall Street. An African American, Grigsby crashed the clubby old boys' network in high finance, often beating corporate giants on major underwriting deals for public projects. The Examiner found that behind the glowing tributes, Grigsby had a dark side. Professionally, rivals accused him of using financial inducements to win big municipal bond deals from public officials. Personally, he has been accused of beating his longtime wife, threatening to kill a family friend, and letting drug dealers and addicts take over a low-income property he owned. (March 31, November 10, 11, 1997)
Tags: Iwata Williams CAR Bond king admired; resented Contest entry 18 pgs.
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The Scariest Criminal
Governing Magazine reports that "Sex offenders are more likely than ever to be punished for their crimes. But that means policy makers face though decisions about how to deal with them in crowded prisons-and after their release....While the phenomenon of a prison system with so many sex offenders is new, the philosophical debates behind the decisions hat are putting them there are centuries old. Balancing the rights of the community and the rights of the individual is an ancient task...."