Dishonored Dealmaker

James Henry Ting--not long ago, that was a name to reckon with in the fast-paced business world of Hong Kong. Ting, like other ambitious young men who based their businesses in the former British colony, was a citizen of the world, an entrepreneur who constructed a universe of interrelated companies and finances from Toronto to Tokyo to New York.

Few, however, were as bold as Ting. Starting his career as a small-time electronics manufacturer in Canada in the 1980s, Ting built up a business under his holding company, Semi-Tech Group, which specialized in the rescue of well-known but tarnished brand names such as Singer Sewing Machine Co. of the U.S. and Sansui Electric Co., the Japanese consumer-electronics maker. He got substantial play in the press, including BusinessWeek. As his success grew, so did his hubris: He rode to one marketing meeting in Rome in a Ben Hur-style chariot. At its peak five years ago, Ting's empire was Roman in scope, employing 100,000 workers in more than 120 countries and racking up almost $5 billion in sales.