AMES, Iowa – Success turned to greed and ultimately landed Aaron Beam in federal prison. The former chief financial officer and co-founder of HealthSouth Corp. served three months for his role in the company’s $2 billion securities fraud scandal. Beam will talk about the unethical and illegal decisions that led to his downfall during the Bacon Ethics Lecture at Iowa State University’s College of Business.
Beam’s speech will focus on the importance for students and professionals to put ethics first in business. His lecture will start at 4 p.m. Monday, April 21, in the Stark Lecture Hall, 1148 Gerdin Business Building. It is free and open to the public.
HealthSouth is one of the largest providers of outpatient surgery and rehabilitative services. As CFO, Beam witnessed a series of accounting, stock manipulation and leadership failures under CEO Richard Scrushy. In 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the company with overstating earnings to meet Wall Street expectations.
In an interview with National Public Radio, Beam explained how it started with questionable accounting practices that spiraled out of control. He said there was intense pressure to meet earnings projections, but everyone involved knew what they were doing was wrong.
“I was there the very first time the books were cooked,” Beam said. “Today, I look back and realize I was really too comfortable with it. I rationalized it that it was a game that everyone plays that you had to do whatever to make your numbers. I bought into the trap.”
After completing his prison sentence and losing his CPA credentials, Beam started speaking to college students, business professionals and healthcare organizations to educate them about unethical business practices. Beam wants to help others identify the early warning signs in their own organizations to avoid the pitfalls he faced.
“I should have had the courage to stand up to Richard [Scrushy] and say, ‘No, this is wrong.’ There are supposed to be checks and balances in business I should have been the one who stood up to Richard and I didn’t,” Beam said.
History of Bacon Ethics Lecture
After seeing too many business ethics issues on the front page of newspapers, Murray Bacon, a retired computer executive, wanted to develop educational strategies and materials for teaching ethics to students.
Since the mid-1990s, Iowa State University’s College of Business has worked in conjunction with the late Murray Bacon and a number of passionate supporters to take on a series of activities designed to focus attention on ethics. The Bacon Ethics Lecture is one part of this effort – providing a forum for discussion and education about current topics in ethics.
