Faces In The News
Faces In The News: Sept. 20, 2002
Greg Levine, 09.20.02, 2:30 PM ET

Doers and doings in business, entertainment and technology:

	Steven Madden: Do wingtips go with horizontal stripes?

Brought to heel: Shoe designer Steven Madden has started serving his 41-month prison term, according to his attorney. Madden, founder of ultrahot shoe retailer Steven Madden (nasdaq: SHOO - news - people ), pleaded guilty in May 2001 to conspiracy to commit money laundering and securities fraud. He surrendered at the federal prison camp at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida on Wednesday, attorney Joel Winograd said, adding "He's doing just fine...He just wants to get this chapter behind him and become a useful citizen again." The designer, whose brother John L. Madden serves as a director of the company, was originally scheduled to start his sentence in August, but the beginning of the term was delayed. Winograd said he expects Madden to serve about a year and a half, after consideration for good behavior and participation in an alcohol rehabilitation program. More...

	Signor Agnelli: According to Ciampi, the picture of health.

Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi said Fiat (nyse: FIA - news - people ) paterfamilias Gianni Agnelli seemed "well" in a private meeting. Ciampi met the carmaker's honorary chairman in a gallery that houses an Agnelli family art collection, where the president "found him in his usual form." One of Italy's premier financiers, Agnelli has battled a prostate condition that forced him to bow out of many events, including the official inauguration of his art gallery; he addressed his guests, who included many top figures in Italian finance, through his grandson and chosen heir John Elkann. The patriarch is seen as the family's strongest opponent of selling Fiat's troubled auto business to General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ), which already owns 20%. Agnelli, ranked No. 180 among the Forbes World's Richest People, was named a life senator in 1991 for his pivotal role in Italy's economy; Ciampi was Italy's prime minister during the high summer of Agnelli's years at Fiat. More...

	Oracle's Ellison: Apple seat too much on his plate.

Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ) Chairman and Chief Executive Larry Ellison is resigning as director of Apple Computer (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ), the latter firm said Friday. Ellison, a longtime friend of fellow cybertitan and Apple CEO Steve Jobs, joined the board five years ago in a reshuffling of directors, as the iconoclastically caustic Jobs returned to take control of the company he co-founded in the 1970s. "My schedule does not currently allow me to attend enough of the formal board meetings to warrant a role as a director," said Ellison, who ranks No. 5 on the Forbes World's Richest People list. "I will continue to offer my advice to Steve and the executive management team at Apple." The move will reduce the board to five directors. Earlier this week, Oracle officials warned a recovery in corporate tech spending worldwide was probably further down the bend than was previously called for. The world's No. 2 software maker Tuesday posted Q1 profit down 33% from a year earlier. Its stock has lost nearly a third of its value this year. More...

	Lukas Meuhlemann gets the axe at Credit Suisse.

Credit Suisse Group (nyse: CSR - news - people ) axed its top executive Lukas Muehlemann on Thursday but reaffirmed the controversial financial services strategy he championed as it bet on two old banking hands to revive its sagging fortunes. Market cheer over Muehlemann's abrupt departure was muted by worries over CS's future, as the group put itself under the control of joint chief executives Oswald "Ossi" Gruebel, head of CS's financial services unit, and John Mack, head of the Credit Suisse First Boston investment bank. CS sources said Muehlemann had realized over recent weeks his desperate battle to regain credibility was lost, and the board decided at a special meeting last Saturday to replace him in the latest Swiss boardroom coup. Muehlemann, 52, joined CS Group as CEO in 1997 after heading Swiss Re and a previous career as a McKinsey consultant. More...

	Kozlowski's wife posts bail; ex-CEO won't have to join a gang yet.

The course of true love never did run smooth. But in New York City, the word "Riker's" conjures magical connotations, and so perhaps it was with that word resonating that the ex-wife of L. Dennis Kozlowski posted his $10 million bail on Thursday. The former chairman of Tyco International (nyse: TYC - news - people ) is accused of bilking $600 million from the megaconglomerate, and was facing an educational stay at Riker's Island jail, one of America's wildest local slammers, until his ex posted the money. But lead prosecutor John Moscow said the Manhattan District Attorney's office would have to determine whether the bail money was in fact gained as part of the fraud Kozlowski was charged with last week, which led prosecutors to freeze his assets. "We need to speak to witnesses before making a determination as to whether we will accept the funds," Moscow said at a hearing. Former Tyco Chief Financial Officer Mark Swartz, who was also named in the indictment, agreed to post $5 million in bail. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Michael Obus set a hearing date for next week to rule on the bail issues, and determine whether Kozlowski and Swartz will "stay a spell" at Riker's--most definitely not a white-collar joint. More...

News items can be submitted to Greg Levine at glevine@forbes.net or by calling him at (212) 366-8851.

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