July 10, 2023: Nicki Swift – Whatever Happened To Crazy Eddie?, By Jon O’Brien
In 1987, Elias Zinn, the owner of a Texas-based discount electronics chain, and Victor Palmieri, a management consultant, purchased 7.5% of outstanding Crazy Eddie shares. This allowed the pair to stage a hostile takeover, something which Eddie Antar and his cousin Sam Antar decided to fight against. The two were understandably worried that having an outside party muscle in on their business could uncover the family’s various frauds.
Writing on his website White Collar Fraud, Sam explained, “We needed a friendly party to help us keep control of the company. Our plan was to raise outside money and take the company private with an unsuspecting third party in an effort to cover up our frauds. We would not have to invest a dime of our own money to take over the company, since the new investors and Wall Street investment banks could potentially bankroll a management-led takeover of Crazy Eddie.”