Sneak has never been a big fan of the integrated circuits market – a little dry and uneventful for his rock 'n' roll tastes. That was until the sordid tale of Broadcom co-founder and ex-chief executive Henry Nicholas reared its flabby coke-smeared head. In an ongoing lawsuit his former aide Kenji Kato is accusing Nicholas of causing emotional distress by force-feeding him drugs, threatening to make certain people "disappear" and, of course, taking part in that tabloid favourite, drug-fuelled orgies. Sneak wonders two things: a) why is Mr Kato suing; and b) is this the inevitable fate of all technology CEOs? It would certainly make the industry a lot more interesting.

17 Jul 2007