|
Retired CEO of Clayton Homes, a NYSE (CMH) company lauded by Wall Street, he reported nearly 30 consecutive years of increased profit, and founded the industry's premier financial institution, servicing $5 billion in manufactured home mortgages.
On the board of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Jim Clayton, a sharecropper's son, grew up on a tiny Tennessee cotton farm in a log cabin with no electricity or running water. From those humble beginnings, he would one day become a Great American Success Story, and a perennial member of the Forbes 400 wealthiest Americans.
|
Aaron Beam Jr.'s story reads like the "Great American Success Story": start a company from zero, raise some venture capital, take the company public in two years, become a millionaire overnight and see the company become the darling of Wall Street. But this success story didn't end there. Instead, Beam found himself in the middle of a corporate scandal, lost almost everything and ended up in prison. That's not the way success stories are supposed to end, but for Beam, that was the harsh reality.
"I think others can learn from my story," Beam says. "From how I started a major company, how I got involved in the fraud while serving as Chief Financial Officer, and more importantly, the human story, the pain of going through a trial and going to prison."
In short, it's the story of how something really great went horribly wrong and the price one man had to pay. Beam hopes that sharing his perspective – as a key player in one of the biggest corporate frauds in recent history – can help future business leaders avoid making the same mistake that he – and the four CFOs who succeeded him – made.
|
Robert D. McTeer is chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, which includes nine universities, seven state agencies and a statewide health science center. The universities have over 102,000 students, including 45,000 at the flagship, Texas A&M University. The agencies provide statewide coverage in agricultural and engineering research, service and continuing education.
Prior to joining the A&M System in November 2004, Bob had a 36-year career with the Federal Reserve, including almost 14 years as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and member of the Federal Open Market Committee. As Dallas Fed president, Bob was a prolific writer and speaker on free enterprise and the new economy, and the Dallas Fed became known as the "Free-Enterprise Fed."
|
Mary Feeley, C.S.P., is The Provocateur. Her presentations are the perfect blend of education and entertainment. Her audiences are provoked to listen, laugh and learn! She has uniquely combined experience from the corporate corner office and the comedy club stage. Her performances are a rare blend of message, motivation and mirth, modeling the speaking style of the future... - edu-tainment.
Mary Feeley has 22 years of successful business experience, from front line to executive level positions in sales, marketing, public relations and customer service. She has worked in both the public and private sectors. In addition, she is an award winning stand-up comedian who has performed in top comedy clubs throughout the United States. Mary Feeley was the first female to be accepted and promoted to a headliner comic at the Comic Annex in Houston.
|
