Mr. Middelhoff has said the plan to take Bertelsmann public would increase the company's financial flexibility, permit it to use shares for acquisitions and impose the discipline of investor scrutiny.

He said that by splitting up, Santa Fe was trying to expose its businesses to greater investor scrutiny so that they could command greater prices in the stock market.

"If the management ever came under investor scrutiny, there would be a lot of dirty laundry to air," said James Fenkner, research director of the Center Invest Group, a Russian financial company.

That most life insurers are not listed also means the dangers they face from a declining stock market receive less investor scrutiny compared with the banks.

The proposed transaction, which will be reviewed by a special independent committee of Cox Communication's board, would give the company flexibility to run the unit and make additional network investments without worrying about the public markets and investor scrutiny.

But in these days of downsized payrolls and upgraded investor scrutiny, of course it isn't.

Still, the recent raft of deals does indicate that confidence in the boardroom - which had been devastated for so long by the stock market plunge and investor scrutiny in the wake of corporate scandals - may be returning.

On the other hand, the peer-to-peer market also faced increased investor scrutiny because borrowers' defaults became more frequent and investors were unwilling to take on unnecessary risk.

"Even if the jubilance of the market returns, there is going to be increased investor scrutiny," said Cybergold's chief executive, Nat Goldhaber.

But as investor scrutiny of directors continues to rise, Mr. Donohue seems certain to remain in a harsh spotlight.