性丑闻放倒美国最有前途的明星高管

    理查德•纳努拉在31岁的时候被任命为迪士尼公司（Walt Disney Co.）首席财务官，成为《财富》美国500强(Fortune 500)历史上最年轻的CFO。1998年，纳努拉担任喜达屋酒店集团(Starwood Hotels)CEO，是《财富》美国500强中第一位黑人执行官。后来，理查德•纳努拉又担任过医药巨头安进公司（Amgen）的CFO，而且还是波音公司（Boeing）的董事会成员。

    可如今，这位企业界的金童却落得一个名誉扫地的境况。上周日，《洛杉矶时报》（Los Angeles Times）的一篇文章披露，纳努拉假装成一位名为“Mr. Rich”的色情明星，录下了自己与成人电影女演员发生性关系的过程。文章中还配有在一家名为Thedirty.com的网站上发布的露骨的照片。

    据文章披露，致命的桃色关系，以及性骚扰指控，迫使纳努拉在七月份辞去了私募股权公司柯罗尼资本集团（Colony Capital）与米拉麦克斯电影公司（Miramax，纳努拉担任该公司董事长）的职务。

    笔者认识纳努拉的时候，他正处于事业的巅峰。颇具讽刺意味的是，他以格外谨慎和保守而著称。身为迪士尼公司的CFO，他的主要任务是对时任CEO迈克尔•艾斯纳的决策提出质疑，并因此被称作是一位关键和可靠的“质疑者”。艾斯纳曾对笔者说过：“勒住一匹快马的缰绳，要比让死马跑起来容易得多。我喜欢有理查德对我说：‘不，我们不能那么干。停。那么干不负责任。’”

    对于迪士尼在上世纪90年代的成功，纳努拉居功至伟。当时，欧洲迪士尼乐园耗费了数十亿美元资金，年轻的纳努拉经过与沙特阿拉伯王子阿尔瓦利德•本•塔拉勒磋商，说服他帮助巴黎迪士尼乐园免于破产。实际上，纳努拉非常谨慎，他甚至反对艾斯纳收购一家电视网络。1995年，艾斯纳还是坚持己见，以190亿美元收购了美国广播公司（ABC）。此次交易为迪士尼带来了ESPN，事实证明这是一笔非常明智的投资。

    之后，纳努拉曾负责迪士尼商店（Disney Stores），在公司的12年间可谓平步青云，直到他在哈佛商学院（Harvard Business School）时最好的朋友巴里•斯坦里克将他挖走，前去运营喜达屋酒店及度假村集团。谈到1998年纳努拉离职一事时，艾斯纳说：“我真想杀了他。我深受刺激，从个人情感方面来说，我也受到了伤害。”不过，艾斯纳还是送上他对纳努拉的祝福，毕竟，跳槽到喜达屋是一个千载难逢的领导《财富》500强公司的机会。经过激烈的ITT喜来登（ITT-Sheraton）收购大战，斯坦里克将喜达屋整合成一个酒店帝国。

    不过，在喜达屋，金童纳努拉未能延续自己的成功。沉着冷静的纳努拉与热情莽撞的斯坦里克在工作中很难相处。两人坚持两种不同的经营风格。1999年，笔者为《财富》杂志撰文，讲述了他们在喜达屋的经历。杂志出版当天，纳努拉从公司辞职。两人曾参加过彼此的婚礼，两家还曾一起度假，观看超级碗（Super Bowl）比赛，但从纳努拉辞职之后，两人之间便再无往来，直到多年以后两人不期而遇，才打破了两人之间的沉默。

    When he was appointed chief financial officer of the Walt Disney Co. (DIS) at age 31, he was the youngest CFO in Fortune 500 history. When he became CEO of Starwood Hotels (HOT) in 1998, he was one of the first black Fortune 500 chiefs. Richard Nanula later became CFO of drug giant Amgen (AMGN) and served on the board of Boeing (BA).

    Now the corporate golden-boy's career is in tatters. A Los Angeles Times story this past Sunday charges that Nanula, posing as a porn star called "Mr. Rich," videotaped himself having sex with adult film actresses. The story followed up on explicit photos posted on a website called Thedirty.com.

    According to the LA Times story, the fateful entanglements, along with a sexual harassment charge, led Nanula, 53, to resign in July from private equity firm Colony Capital and the Miramax film company, where he was chairman.

    I knew Nanula back when he was at his height of success. And ironically, he was known as an extraordinarily cautious and conservative businessman. As CFO of Disney, his main role was to be a critical and reliable "No" man to then-CEO Michael Eisner. "You can hold back the bridle of a fast horse more easily than you can get a dead horse to move," Eisner once told me. "I liked having Richard say, 'No, we shouldn't do that. Stop. It's irresponsible.'"

    Nanula was key to Disney's success in the '90s. When EuroDisney was sucking billions of capital, the young Nanula negotiated with Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Alsaud to help save Paris's version of Disneyland from bankruptcy. Actually, Nanula was so cautious that he discouraged Eisner from buying a TV network—which Eisner went ahead and did, acquiring ABC in a $19 billion deal in 1995. That purchase brought Disney ESPN and turned out to be a very wise investment.

    Nanula went on to head Disney Stores and was on the company's fast track for 12 years before his best friend from Harvard Business School, Barry Sternlicht, wooed him away to run Starwood Hotels and Resorts. "I wanted to kill him," Eisner told me about Nanula's departure in 1998. "I was aggravated and personally hurt." Eisner gave Nanula his blessing, however, since Starwood—Sternicht's patched-together hotel empire, following a hard-fought takeover battle for ITT-Sheraton --was "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to lead a Fortune 500 company.

    At Starwood, the golden boy's success began to unravel. Nanula, calm and self-possessed, and Sternlicht, who is intense and impetuous, couldn't stand working with each other. They veered toward divorce corporate-style. That is the title of my 1999 Fortune story about their time at Starwood. Nanula quit the day the Fortune story came out. The two men, who had once been in each other's weddings and had gone on family vacations and trips to the Super Bowl together, didn't talk until they ran into each other years later.