The latest twist for former Broadcom Corp. chief executive Henry Nicholas: the technology billionaire is said to be in rehab, according to the Orange County Register.
Nicholas voluntarily checked into the Betty Ford Center on Wednesday, according to Bill Hake, one of Nicholas’ personal attorneys, the Register reported.
The Broadcom cofounder, 48, has been under stress after the death of his 93-year-old stepfather earlier this month and attending a memorial ceremony for his sister, who was murdered in 1983 by an ex-boyfriend.
Nicholas was a no-show at a rally on the steps of the state Capitol in Sacramento Wednesday announcing proposed legislation, named for his sister, which would create a bill of rights for victims of crime.
Nicholas gave $2.5 million for a crime victims’ memorial in Sacramento.
He was on hand last Thursday at a fundraiser for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at El Adobe de Capistrano restaurant in San Juan Capistrano.
The rehab news comes as Nicholas, who’s the subject of a federal criminal probe of stock options backdating at Irvine chipmaker Broadcom, is widely believed to be facing an indictment in the case.
Hake told the Register Nicholas’ entering rehab had nothing to do with the options investigation, which took a personal twist last year when federal prosecutors looked into unseemly allegations of drug abuse and prostitutes in civil lawsuits and a child custody dispute with his estranged wife Stacey.
As part of the custody dispute, Hake said, Nicholas has submitted to drug tests for the past year and a half that have come up negative, the report showed.
Nicholas was concerned about his drinking because of a family history of alcoholism and tests that showed his liver was damaged, his lawyer said.
