It's now alleged in the public domain, what I suspect several on here already knew , that CM was rather gung-ho and reckless in his management style and MMC have paid a high price for it.
I still think we need to be careful about reading too much into what may or may not have been alleged.
What is certain is that in family companies it is often the case (and I stress that I am talking in the abstract here...) that huge resentment can build up amongst other shareholders when the one who is actually running the business seems to be using the business as a personal fiefdom, living high on the hog, taking a large salary and benefits whilst the rest of them are rewarded with disappointing dividends. The business side of things may also become clouded by emotional issues such as family break up, nubile new wife and so on.
The grandfather of one of my oldest friends arrived in England as a penniless Jewish refugee just before WWII. He built a business which ended up with a full stock exchange listing (tho' the family still owned about half of the business between them). He put all of his children and grandchildren through Public School and University, had a personal checking account with the bank of England and so on. After his demise my friend's uncle took over as MD. He paid himself handsomely, & had a fancy new Mercedes every year while the rest of them got less and less return. They should have ousted him; within 6 years the business was bankrupt, and the rest of them lost their birthright.
The uncle in question ended up as a Business Studies Lecturer......
