Broken Bonds: My Immoderate Life of Love, Passion, War on Affirmative Action and Jack Welch's Ge

by Joseph Jett

Broken My Immoderate Life of Love, Passion, War on Affirmative Action and Jack Welch's GE describes the sordid fall from grace of once celebrated General Electric CEO Jack Welch. Welch, widely held to be the most influential CEO of the 20th Century, certainly influenced the era of "I know nothing!" CEOs like Ken Lay of Enron and Bernie Ebbers of WorldCom. In Broken Bonds we see the foundation laid for the corporate scandals that eviscerated Wall Street in the early 21st Century. Broken Bonds lays bare the federal government's responsiblity for the financial scandals as the do-nothing SEC rapidly descends from respected regulatory body to handmaiden of the very industries it was intended to regulate. The culture of corporate scandal, shareholder abuse, and CEO self-dealing is seen as the end result of a regulatory body on the take. Broken Bonds is also the story of America's broken promise to those who pull themselves up by their bootstraps to compete in the mythical colorblind society. Jett, a Harvard MBA and two time MIT graduate says, "I tried to do what was noble. I never identified my race on any college or job application. I refused any opportunity that seemed affirmative action related. I was determined to set a standard that proved that Blacks needed no intellectual crutch. I believe that I succeeded in that endeavor but must now face the last bastion of racism, the American legal system." Broken Bonds offers a seldom-voiced view of the African-American experience. Jett represents the antithesis of New York Times star reporter, Jayson Blair. Jett was unquestionably master of his own house and that house was blown to smithereens rather than see a dominant Black male outwitted his adversaries rather than being dependent on handouts. Broken Bonds is a winning combination of sex, money, and power from a man of gigantic melancholy and tremendous mirth who hides not his own frailties and lived life ferociously. The reader visits exotic locals in China, Thailand, Brazil, Macau and Marrakech and feels swept along by the breathtaking speed of events which would propel Jett to headline news coverage across the globe. Hollywood producing luminaries Wendy Finerman (Forrest Gump, Stepmom, The Fan), Spike Lee (Malcolm X, Do the Right Thing, She's Gotta Have It), and Patrick McCormick (Peter Pan, Boys on the Side, Donnie Brasco) have all expressed interest in Jett's story.

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004