ITT'S STRIP SHOW

DEFIANT CEO RAND ARASKOG IS SELLING HOTELS TO REPEL HILTON'S BID. IS HE PROTECTING SHAREHOLDERS OR HIS JOB?

Rand Araskog, the CEO of ITT Corp., is a West Point graduate and a combat-hardened veteran of takeover wars who knows the value of a tactical retreat. He has fought off corporate raiders who sought to break up his company, as well as investors critical of ITT's performance and his high salary. So when Hilton Hotels Corp. offered $6.5 billion to buy ITT, which owns the Sheraton hotel chain and Caesars World casinos, Araskog manned the ramparts again. To raise cash and buttress the company's stock price, he sold once prized but now indefensible properties like ITT's 50% stake in Madison...

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