Upon resigning after reaching a settlement with federal regulators on May 21, 2004, Richard Strong issued the following statement of apology:
“The regulatory investigations of me and my company have been resolved, and I now want to apologize to the many thousands of shareholders of Strong Funds. I created Strong and devoted most all of my business life to making Strong a safe, secure and prosperous investment vehicle. Mutual fund investing is core to the futures and needs of millions of American investors, and its hallmark has always been and continues to be the safety and care of the monies entrusted to those who manage these funds. Throughout my career, I have considered it to be my sacred duty to protect my investors; and yet in a particular and persistent way I let them down. In previous years, I frequently traded the shares of the Strong funds, at the same time that the advice which we gave our investors was to do the opposite and to hold their shares for the long term. My personal behavior in this regard was wrong and at odds with the obligations I owed my shareholders, and for this I am deeply sorry. “
