mis-reported that Andersen Consulting had to pay $1 billion for its independence. This is inaccurate. Andersen Consulting had been paying Arthur Andersen many millions per year, which was at the crux of why Andersen Consulting wanted to break away. The $1 billion payment at the time of the break-up was not a "payment for independence", rather, it was simply the regular annual payments which were held in escrow until a final arbitration decision was reached. 4 hours after the verdict was official, Arthur Andersen's CEO Jim Wadia promptly resigned. It was later reported by Wadia that a resolution had been passed by Arthur Andersen's board that Wadia had to get at least $4 billion (over and above the regular annual payments) from Andersen Consulting or step down. See also Accenture Accounting scandals Conspiracy of Fools Corporate abuse Timeline of the Enron scandal Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States External links Arthur Andersen LLP homepage (former Arthur Andersen - Accounting) Financial services companies of Switzerland