From banking scandal to video game CEO to billion-dollar score

Bethesda’s game sales have fluctuated with the timing of its big releases. Fallout 76, the latest in a series based on life after nuclear war, disappointed critics in 2018. The company had no games among last year’s top 20 sellers, according to data from NPD Group. — Bethesda

Video game trade shows aren’t known for dispensing high-end whisky, but there it was at the Bethesda Softworks exhibit: US$100 (RM417) bottles of Glenmorangie, flowing freely.

Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities Inc, was in attendance that day several years ago and asked a staffer what was behind the top-shelf booze. The company’s chief executive officer, Robert A. Altman, had specifically requested the 18-year-old spirit, he was told, saying he’d never offer a guest something he wouldn’t consume himself.