Take a look at Nortel's 2003 letter to shareholders . It's a pretty strange read because CEO Bill Owens is talking about a period of time that happened 13 to 25 months ago. There's not much in the way of strategic insight but lots of optimism about the future, including a nice, warm-all-over conclusion that: "Nortel is poised for growth and renewed success, supported by a compelling vision already endorsed by customers worldwide."
There is nothing in the letter about Nortel's second internal investigation into revenue recognition, the flurry of class-action lawsuits it faces, the investigations by the FBI, RCMP, SEC and Ontario Securities Commission, the need to post 2004 results and, finally, when it plans to hold an annual shareholders meeting.