Charges Dropped Against Quattrone

The dismissal of charges against Frank Quattrone by U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels earlier this week was largely a formality.

Under a deal reached a year ago, prosecutors promised to drop the long-running criminal case if Quattrone stayed out of trouble for one year.

"The opera is over," Quattrone said in a statement Thursday. "I'm looking forward to continuing my charitable work while exploring new beginnings in the business world."

Quattrone said he had not yet decided what to do but remained very interested in helping companies in the technology sector.

During more than 23 years as an investment banker, Quattrone played a key role in taking public more than 175 companies.

He was an adviser on hundreds of others deals involving a who's who list of tech giants including International Business Machine Corp., Intel Corp. and Oracle Corp.

A career that earned him $120 million in 2000, at the height of the tech boom, screeched to a halt when prosecutors charged him with obstructing a government probe of stock offerings.

After his first trial ended in a deadlocked jury, he was convicted at a second trial. The verdict and an 18-month prison sentenced were tossed out by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year. Quattrone never served a day in prison.

The government had claimed Quattrone urged 400 technology investment bankers he supervised from the Palo Alto, Calif., offices of Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. to destroy files when he learned about multiple investigations. He always said he did not. The firm has since changed its name to Credit Suisse (USA) Inc.