THE BOOK OF LISTS: BEST DIARY STORIES OF 2002 - Bcom3 buyout windfall calms Fizdale's worries

As the days count down to the closure of the Publicis Groupe's $3 billion acquisition of its US rival, Bcom3 Group, Campaign hears tempers are rising on the other side of the pond.

Observers' teeth are gnashing at the terms of the deal, which sees the four leaders of Bcom3 pondering what to do with the $60 million they are each about to pocket.

Yes, Messers Roger Haupt, the chief executive, Roy Bostock, the former chairman, and the president, Craig Brown, will be banking their substantial personal wads alongside that of Rick Fizdale, the former vice-chairman.

This can't be the same Fizdale who raged in an internal memo last year about Burnett's 2000 creative being like a bird "that has fallen to earth with a plop, lifeless"?

"Even in the early stages of retirement, I cannot shake the nightmare of the US reel," he railed. "So now, I lift my pen as a shareholder worried about this investment."

Perhaps now that Fizdale has 60 million reasons to be less worried, the creative department will be left to breathe a sigh of relief.

This article was first published on Campaign