Top O.C. Givers Quit Arts Board

Two of Orange County’s top arts philanthropists Tuesday announced their resignations from the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s board of directors, refusing to serve with fellow board members who are suing their company in an unrelated dispute over high-tech investments gone bad.

In announcing their resignations, Henry Samueli and Henry T. Nicholas III, the co-founders and top executives of Broadcom, emphasized their continuing moral and financial support of the Costa Mesa arts center. They said they hope it is not hurt by the business dispute among some of its directors.

The suit, which the Broadcom executives dismissed as frivolous, contends that Broadcom inflated sales and earnings by improperly accounting for certain expenses.

The stronger results boosted Broadcom’s stock price, which allowed Nicholas, Samueli and William J. Reuhle, chief financial officer, to sell at least $80million in stock options before the company’s shares fell drastically last fall, according to the suit.

Among those suing Broadcom and its co-founders is Thomas T. Tierney, who is in line to become chairman and chief executive of the arts center in July. Tierney’s office has referred all questions to lawyers, who did not return calls for comment Monday or Tuesday.

Samueli said in an interview, “I and my partner cannot sit on a board in which the incoming chairman and several members have filed what we feel is a frivolous lawsuit.... That’s something we can’t stomach. There’s an integrity issue here. I have to have full confidence in the people across the table.”

Nicholas, in a separate interview, said, “I would have no problem sitting across the [table] from someone who sued me if there was an honest difference of opinion. But I believe we haven’t done anything wrong, and they’re trying to extort some kind of settlement.”