![]() The Informant! is a comedy based on the real-life saga of whistle-blower/white collar criminal Mark Whitacre. (Never mind that he’s been receiving millions in corporate kickbacks himself for years.)īut then, the FBI informs Whitacre, “I think the corporate culture is going to change for you.” After which, he assumes, the board will naturally name him the company’s next president. Over a span of three years, Whitacre accumulates enough evidence to send most of his bosses to jail. The FBI quickly makes Whitacre an insider mole, and the whistle-blower starts taping dozens of shady corporate klatches. “What a good listener,” Whitacre says after the FBI agent leaves his house. And, while they’re hanging out at his house tapping wires (tap, tap, tap), Whitacre decides to ‘fess up about another issue that’s been sticking in his craw: that ADM is part of a worldwide conspiracy to fix the price of lysine. But since he’s worked so hard anyway, who could begrudge him that?)īut ADM unexpectedly calls in the FBI to pursue the alleged Japanese saboteurs-a move Whitacre never anticipated-and they promptly tap his phone. (And conceivably $10 million extra from the company. So Whitacre lies to create a little breathing room. Whitacre’s bosses, anxious to see progress, demand immediate improvement. You see, Whitacre, who heads up ADM’s BioProducts Division, is having trouble making an exciting new compound called lysine do what it’s supposed to do. Oh, he tells the lie for the best of reasons. Then one day he tells just one teensy-weensy little fib to his bosses-that Japanese competitors are sabotaging the company and want $10 million in shakedown money to stop-and things are never quite the same. ![]() The thirtysomething exec seemed to have it all: A beautiful wife, three children, eight cars and a $350,000 salary. In 1992, Mark Whitacre was the youngest divisional president in the history of the Archer Daniels Midland Company. Often, these unexpected “career opportunities” aren’t your fault. ![]() One minute you’re sitting behind your desk, figuring out how to work the word synergy into your next presentation, and the next you’re loading up your pens into a cardboard box for one last trip to company parking lot. Anyone trying to eke out a living these days knows that. ![]()
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