Despite the artistic success enjoyed by several Livent productions and the company's increasing stature in the, entertainment industry Garth Drabinsky was dogged by critics throughout the 1990s. The enigmatic Drabinsky had a well-deserved reputation as flamboyant and charming with Wall Street analysts, metropolitan bankers, and fellow corporate executives. But critics were prone to point out that Drabinsky also had a darker side to his personality. "He is-by his own admission-complex and difficult, cranky and litigious, breathtakingly ambitious, singled-minded and self-centered. According to company insiders, Drabinsky could be tyrannical and abusive to his subordinates, berating them when they failed to live up to his perfectionist standards or when they questioned his decisions. Maria Messina subsequently revealed that Livent's accountants were common targets of verbal abuse by Drabinsky and other Livent executives. "They[Livent's accountants] were told on a very regular basis that they are paid to keep their expletive) mouths shut and do as they are expletive) told. They are not paid to think.