Lotus stirred, not shaken, by Papows story

By Marc Ferranti and Nancy Weil
IDG News Service, 04/30/99

Lotus is supporting its president, Jeffrey Papows, after a story in yesterday's Wall Street Journal contended that the executive lied during his career about his personal history and embellished his military record when talking to business prospects.

Lotus, inundated with phone calls after the story appeared, moved to portray the article as hearsay. A spokesman said that no action is being taken.

"The story is not going to prompt an investigation and is seen as a distraction," said Bryan Simmons, vice president of worldwide corporate communications at Lotus. Simmons said that, to his knowledge, Lotus's parent company, IBM, is not investigating either. IBM officials could not be reached immediately for comment.

"No one should expect to see any changes here and our point of view is that the story is largely concocted of rumor and commentary on rumor," Simmons said.

The Journal article contends that, throughout his career, Papows has puffed up his resume and his military rank and has concocted stories of daring feats in the U.S. Marine Corps and on reserve duty. Papows also is said to have lied about his family history.

"Jeff's contention is that he did not say these things to people," Simmons said.

The article details Papows' claims and refutes them point by point, quoting mostly named sources who provided information about the Lotus president's family history, military record, educational achievements and tales told to colleagues and in public meetings. Papows was interviewed twice by the Journal regarding the claims and repeatedly told the newspaper that his comments must have been misunderstood or were a function of corporate "water-cooler legend" drummed up by idolizing employees.

Three top executives at IBM also reportedly were made aware of the discrepancies in Papows' resume, but did not respond to the Journal's request for comments.

The article reported several discrepancies:

Papows claimed to have gotten a doctoral degree from Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., but that in reality he received a master's degree from that school and a Ph.D. from an unaccredited correspondence college in California.

Papows' resume lists him as a former Marine Corps captain, but that he actually was a first lieutenant when his military service ended in 1979. Confronted with the discrepancy between his resume and his official record, Papows reportedly told the Journal that he was cleared for promotion to captain shortly before he left the Marines.

His stories include various tales of wild, dangerous feats, such as surviving military jet crashes, suffering a ruptured eardrum while flying what was described as a "complicated maneuver," and saving himself and another Marine by tossing a live grenade out of a trench. On the contrary, the Journal reported that the Marines have no record that Papows ever flew an airplane while in the service.

Papows admitted to the Journal that he wasn't a pilot, but said he was a "back-seat radar-intercept officer" in an F-4 Phantom, which has two seats. When confronted by the Journal, Papows also reportedly decreased the estimated time he spent flying, from "a couple of thousand hours to probably less than 'several hundred,' " the Journal said, quoting the revised estimate.

An unnamed relative told the Journal that, contrary to comments Papows allegedly made to colleagues, the Lotus executive was not an orphan, but was raised by his parents in Gloucester, Mass.

The article raises the question of whether the scrutiny of Papows' record and the apparent fabrications on his resume and in his life's history should matter, given that overall he is perceived as doing a good job running Lotus and is well-regarded in the industry. But it does contend that Papows has used his embellished military record and tales of daring adventure to drum up more business for Lotus.

As for Papows' reaction to the story, "No one would be happy to see that kind of piece," Simmons said. "But he is a very capable and resilient man and will go about his business."