My knee-jerk, emotional reaction is to say that this is America's corporate culture. Executives don't accept personal responsibility for anything, ever.
And now to the SEC or whomever accepted the M$4 settlement. This is ridiculous. What is the point of pursuing someone if not to end up with the equivalent of a "conviction." How is collecting cash from someone who admits no wrongdoing different from being bribed to find them innocent?
If I were in charge of the SEC, I would put findings of wrongdoing ahead of collecting cash penalties. Money is irrelevant to wealthy individuals. The one thing they cannot afford to spare is time. I would relentlessly pursue them with subpoenas, prosecutions, and the threat of actual jail time in order to force them to admit wrongdoing.
Settlements would involve community service, not money. Michael Dell needs to take some time off his business and read books to children in the library or perhaps help high school students with their math homework.
To follow this up: M Dell is worth about 12 billion. 4 million? The easy way to compare it is by portion, in which case he's just paid, say, a fine of five hundred dollars in terms of an average person. But rationally, that marginal 4 million will have even less affect on Dell's lifestyle than the $500 would on a blue collar citizen.
Sorry but Michael S. Dell's personal involvement in this seems minor considering Intel paid Dell 4.3 Billion (capital B for emphasis). This is bigger than just one or two CEO's.
That's a big reason why this stuff just keeps happening.