Other Endeavors
Langone has attracted publicity with his attempted purchase of the New York Stock Exchange. Although the deal fell through, it raised Langone's stature on Wall Street and in the business community in general. He was a co-defendant with Richard Grasso in the 2004 prosecution by Eliot Spitzer over a controversial package of $139.5m of benefits received by Grasso on leaving his post as chairman and chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange, in addition to an estimated $10m annual pay. The Exchange was operated as a non-profit enterprise, and so was subject to New York state laws governing remuneration within non-profit enterprises. Langone was, as a director of the Exchange and senior member of the remuneration committee, heavily involved in development of the pay package. On July 1, 2008 the New York State Court of Appeals dismissed the case. The majority opinion stated that since the beginning of the case the NYSE had become a subsidiary of a for-profit multinational corporation, and that pursuing the company in the matter was therefore "not in the public interest."
Langone served on the board of General Electric in 2001.
Langone tapped Robert Nardelli to become CEO of Home Depot after Jeffrey R. Immelt was chosen over both Nardelli and James McNerney to succeed Jack Welch as CEO of GE.
Langone also served on the board of Database Technologies, a position he filled at invitation of the company's founder Hank Asher. Asher claims Langone was responsible for his ouster.
Langone was a co-founder and board member of ChoicePoint Inc.
The Wall Street Journal discussed a pitch made by Bernard Madoff to Langone just before Thanksgiving 2009. Langone told the newspaper that Madoff said he was raising $500 million to $1 billion for his new fund for exclusive clients.
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