I’m sure many of you have seen the headlines.  Prosecutor accuses Black of “stealing, plain and simple.”  In fact it has gotten a bit more sensational as Conrad Black’s trial has gone on.  Now that closing arguments are on going, headlines are growing even more visceral.  Conrad Black simply put is an easy target.  Having been a Canadian swashbuckler in business for so long, I’m sure there are many people who would like to bring him back to earth.

Of course I’ve never met Conrad Black.  However, I’ve heard about him for years.  You have to admire how Black rose up through the ranks of business starting way back at the Sherbrooke Quebec community newspaper.  Nonetheless, there are others who don’t admire him at all.  As it is, the trial in Chicago has been fascinating.

The following is a short description of what Conrad Black is accused of doing from the CBC business website.

Black, 62, and three other former executives of the Hollinger International Inc. newspaper empire are accused of pocketing $60 million US that should have gone to the shareholders, largely through non-compete payments in the sale of hundreds of Hollinger-owned U.S. and Canadian community newspapers.

Millions of dollars were paid in exchange for promises that Hollinger would not compete with the new owners. “Non-compete” payments are common in the industry but prosecutors say the money belonged to shareholders.

Hollinger did get the bulk of the money, but large amounts went to Black, other executives and two Canadian companies Black owned. (CBC Business News)

Sound confusing?  Yes it is.  I took financial management in University but I was glad to give it up for the marketing side of the business equation.  Share offers, buyouts, earnings per share, were all too convoluted to me.  All I wanted was a working knowledge.  I got enough to understand what Black did at Hollinger didn’t seem quite right.  He might still beat the rap, and if he does that’s OK.  However, I’ll never get how our business and accounting rules fostered by government allows some executives to possibly take money, which should go to shareholders.  It never did make much sense to me.

Editor and friend John Gardiner has seen me write it many times.  “The poor folks get poorer and the rich fat cats gets richer.”  I have seen so many times in this society where that happens.  It would seem with the Black trial the rich fat cats weren’t satisfied with just being rich.  It is almost like they needed more and more and more.

If Black is returned to the business world with a “not guilty” verdict I’ll understand those rules a little better.  It is one thing to get richer based on generally accepted accounting rules versus just stealing.  A “guilty” verdict will be very easy to understand.  It’ll be also be a wakeup call for corporate Canada.  Everything is not as it seems.  Rules put forth by our respective regulatory bodies need to be adhered to.  Otherwise the little guy is holding the bag a little too often.

In Black’s case he’s got more of his fair share of media folk who won’t shed a tear if he’s found guilty. That’s human nature when you’ve been in competition with him for years.  However, it may be true that Black cut lots of jobs in this many different ventures through the years but he also created quite a few.  When he launched the National Post, it opened up a new market for writers across Canada caught in the proverbial cliquish Canadian media circle.  He did provide a fresh alternative to established Canadian norms.

At one time I was an avid reader of his wife Barbara Amiel-Black.  Her cutting right wing views always made me think twice.  Her column in Macleans magazine was a welcome respite from the tired old left wing sixties diatribe often heard in that magazine.  However, her views were seen as shrill, partly because she was so right wing and also because she was an attractive women.  Yes, that’s as hypocritical as you can get, but it still happens in media circles even in 2007.

So when you add Barbara Amiel with Conrad Black into this convoluted story about “earnings per share” and “non-compete clauses”, its gets even more juicy for the media. It’s a tired script but one, which is invariably, followed across western media circles.

Still Conrad Black stands his ground and leads with his chin.  He is unapologetic and very confident that he didn’t do anything wrong.  If he wins this fight his reputation and legend in business circles will surely grow.  If he loses, well, I’m sure we’ll never hear the end of it.  I must admit, like many others, I’ll be watching.