Embattled Execs Keep Lavish Habits

July 25 -- Far from the bad news of the stock market and the cascading bankruptcies and financial scandals, America's corporate elite — including some of the business leaders under investigation — are still spending their summers in unbowed luxury.

One favorite destination is the island resort of Nantucket, off the Massachusetts coast, a place filled with multimillion-dollar mansions.

The home under the most scrutiny at the moment is a 7,000 square foot mansion owned by Dennis Kozlowski, former CEO of Tyco International. With a four-bedroom guest house and a garage on 3.8 oceanfront acres, the property is valued at almost $6 million. Kozlowski also owns residences in Florida, New Hampshire and Manhattan.

Kozlowski, 55, was an American corporate hero until his company's finances came under question, the stock collapsed and he was indicted by a grand jury in New York City. Last month, he pleaded not guilty to charges that he cheated on his personal taxes, allegedly trying to get out of paying sales tax on some $13 million worth of art, including a Renoir and a Monet.

But to the outrage of prosecutors, no sooner had Kozlowski left the courthouse than he was reported to be back in Nantucket and out on his $20 million yacht, the famed Endeavour. Built in 1934, the Endeavour is a throwback to another time, with a cherry wood deck and a working fireplace, the kind of showy excess Kozlowski has become famous for among Nantucket's super-rich summer crowd.

Earlier this month, when Kozlowski and his boat came to be seen as symbols of corporate America's infectious greed, he — and the boat — tried to disappear. Normally a regular at Nantucket's best night spots, Kozlowski has only been seen once this month, at a dinner at his favorite French restaurant. After it made headlines, the Endeavour moved to Newport, R.I., later returning to its private $45,000-a-year slip in Nantucket.

An American Nobility?

Author Kevin Phillips, whose recent book Wealth and Democracy tracks the history of corporate greed in America, says Kozlowski and others act as if they are above the law.