A Cendant to Vivendi

TCW Podcast Episode 259 - A Cendant to Vivendi   CUC International looked like a company that never missed. Quarter after quarter, just barely beating estimates, right up until the moment Henry Silverman got access to their books and found out why. When a new customer signed up, CUC booked a full year of revenue immediately, even though billing was monthly. If that customer left before the year was up, CUC never corrected the books. The money just stayed there. Perfectly functional assets were declared worthless on paper, with the supposed losses paid off using money from merger funds. That same merger money was then counted again as incoming revenue, making the company look larger and more profitable than it was. Over $500 million in income that never existed. Walter Forbes was forced to resign and was eventually convicted of the largest accounting scandal of the time. Cendant realized the software and games division itself had been part of the machinery. They sold it to French media company Havas. That sale landed in the orbit of Vivendi, a sprawling conglomerate that had started as a 19th century French waterworks company. Its CEO Jean-Marie Messier had bigger things in mind. AOL had just merged with Time Warner, and Messier was not going to watch an American walled garden of films, music, and games swallow the market he wanted to own.   TCW 258 - The Shenanigans of CUC Software: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW258-the-shenanigans-of-cuc-software TCW 039 - On-Line Systems: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW039-on-line-systems TCW 040 - Sierra On-Line: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW040-sierra-on-line TCW 054 - Blizzard: Vikings and Warcraft: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW054-blizzard-vikings-and-warcraft TCW 055 - Blizzard: Hellfire and the World… of WarCraft: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW055-blizzard-hellfire-and-the-world-of-warcraft TCW 219 - Diablo 1: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW219-diablo-1 TCW 220 - Diablo 2: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW220-diablo-2 TCW 221 - North to Hellgate London: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW221-north-to-hellgate-london TCW 230 - Crafting the World of WarCraft: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW230-crafting-the-world-of-warcraft Space Jam Website: https://www.spacejam.com/1996/ The Digital Antiquarian - The End of Sierra as We Knew It - Part 1 - The Acquisition: https://www.filfre.net/2025/04/the-end-of-sierra-as-we-knew-it-part-1-the-acquisition/ The Digital Antiquarian - The End of Sierra as We Knew It - Part 2 - The Scandal: https://www.filfre.net/2025/04/the-end-of-sierra-as-we-knew-it-part-2-the-scandal/ The Digital Antiquarian - The End of Sierra as We Knew It - Part 3 - The Dog Days of Oakhurst: https://www.filfre.net/2025/05/the-end-of-sierra-as-we-knew-it-part-3-the-dog-days-of-oakhurst/ The Digital Antiquarian - The End of Sierra as We Knew It - Part 4 - Chainsaw Monday: https://www.filfre.net/2025/05/the-end-of-sierra-as-we-knew-it-part-4-chainsaw-monday/ TCW 139 - Tec Toy and Brazil: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW139-tec-toy-and-brazil   New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!   TCW Email: [email protected]  BlueSky: @theycreateworlds.bsky.social Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com Alex's book: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1   Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode -  Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode  Outro Music: RoleMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love    Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/