Joseph Berardino

Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Arthur Andersen

After his blame-ducking tactics failed to assuage impoverished Enron shareholders or Congress, the Arthur Andersen chief resigned in late March. Good thing he bailed out when he did: With the firm facing client flight and an obstruction-of-justice charge, it had become a race to see who could tear him apart first - the accounting firm's partners or the feds.

Andersen faces criminal charges over allegations of destroying papers relating to the collapse of power giant Enron, which filed for bankruptcy four months ago in the biggest ever US corporate failure. More...