Management mayhem at Vivendi and Tyco: A case of too much too soon for these business giants?

Imagine the scene: after pursuing an aggressive expansion strategy you find your organization so swamped in debt you are paying $160,000 every hour in interest. Or imagine coping with a similar debt problem only to discover your CEO has been implicated in the disappearance of $600m in company funds. Nightmare scenarios most definitely, but these nightmares were shocking realities for corporate giants Vivendi Universal and Tyco International.