Chapter 5 - The Fall of Sterling Global
Forty-eight hours after the Plaza Hotel gala, the final hammer fell on Sterling Global Media.
The New York Stock Exchange officially suspended trading of SGM stock after its value plunged to ninety-four cents a share—a staggering ninety-eight percent loss of market capitalization in less than two days.
At two o'clock on Friday afternoon, the Board of Directors of Sterling Global convened an emergency shareholder meeting at an off-site conference location. Vance Sterling was not invited to preside. He was brought into the room under armed security escort, sitting in a folding chair at the back of the room like a criminal awaiting sentencing.
I walked into the board room at two-fifteen, accompanied by Margo and a legal team of twenty attorneys.
The board members—men and women who had spent years ignoring Vance’s incompetence because they were making comfortable dividend returns—stood up instantly as Margo and I approached the head of the conference table.
"Madam Kensington," the lead director, a senior partner from a major private equity firm, said with deep deference. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with us during this unprecedented crisis."
"This is not a crisis, Mr. Davis," Margo replied, taking her seat at the head of the table while I sat directly to her right. "This is a liquidation."
"Liquidation?" Vance shouted from the back of the room, jumping out of his chair before a security officer placed a heavy hand on his shoulder, forcing him back down. "You can't liquidate my company! I founded Sterling Global! My family's name is on the building!"
I opened a thick leather binder in front of me and looked across the room at him.
"You didn't found Sterling Global, Vance," I said, my voice crisp and authoritative. "Your father built a modest regional newspaper syndicate. You inherited it, rebranded it with high-yield debt, and ran it into the ground while using company funds to support your mother's lifestyle."
I tapped a document in the binder.
"As of eleven o'clock this morning," I continued, "Kensington Capital Partner Funds holds eighty-two percent of Sterling Global’s outstanding corporate debt and sixty-four percent of its voting common stock, acquired through the forced foreclosure of your personal margin loan."
The room was deathly quiet.
"By the authority vested in us as the supermajority shareholder," I announced, turning my gaze to the board members, "Kensington Capital hereby executes an immediate motion to dissolve the Board of Directors of Sterling Global Media."
"Seconded," Margo said smoothly.
"The motion carries," I said. "Furthermore, we are filing a formal corporate chapter seven bankruptcy petition in the Southern District of New York. Effective immediately, all corporate assets, intellectual property rights, server infrastructure, and brand naming rights of Sterling Global Media are hereby transferred into the Kensington Heritage Trust."
Vance slumped forward in his folding chair, his head hitting his knees as a long, pitiful groan escaped his throat.
"What about my executive severance package?" Vance choked out, looking up with bloodshot, desperate eyes. "My contract guarantees me a twelve-million-dollar exit bonus in the event of a change of control!"
Arthur Pendelton stepped forward, pulling a single sheet of paper from his briefcase and sliding it across the long table until it stopped directly in front of Vance.
"Clause 9-C of your executive contract, Mr. Sterling," Arthur explained with a cold smile. "Any executive officer found to have engaged in personal conversion of corporate funds or unapproved personal expenditures waives all rights to severance, pension matches, or legal defense indemnity."
Arthur leaned down, his voice dropping into a razor-sharp whisper.
"The District Attorney’s office has just accepted our formal filing regarding the three point eight million dollars you transferred from the employee health fund to pay for your mistress's condominium in Miami. Federal marshals are waiting for you in the lobby downstairs."
Vance’s face went entirely white. He looked at me, his eyes filled with a terrifying mix of realization, regret, and utter horror.
"Evelyn..." he whispered, his voice cracking. "You... you ruined me..."
I closed my binder with a quiet, decisive snap.
May you like
"You ruined yourself, Vance," I said softly, standing up from the table. "I just stood out of the way and let you finish the job."
As Margo and I walked out of the boardroom, two tall men in dark suits stepped through the doors, presenting a federal arrest warrant to Vance Sterling. The sound of silver handcuffs clicking around his wrists was the final sound I heard before the heavy oak doors closed behind us.
