Jurors in the trial over alleged executive looting at Tyco International Ltd. were shown a videotape last week of a lavish party thrown by former CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski for his wife more than two years ago.

The shock value of the tape wasn't just because of the scantily clad models in Roman-themed attire parading around. No, this party offered something we hadn't seen before: the world of corporate excess in living color.

"It's going to be a fun week," the tape shows Kozlowski saying to about 75 guests arriving to celebrate Karen Mayo's 40th birthday on the Italian island of Sardinia on June 11, 2001. "Eating, drinking, whatever. All the things we're best known for."

Of course, there's nothing illegal about executives having a little fun. But it's another story when it's paid for out of shareholders' pockets.

There has been much talk about corporate America's free-spending antics, most of it revealed as a result of major scandals that have rocked some of the best-known U.S. businesses in the last two years.

From General Electric to Adelphia, the corporate coffers have paid for over-the-top perks including private jets, luxury vacations, private golf courses and multimillion-dollar corporate homes in resort towns and big cities.

But the Tyco video was momentous. It had executives live on tape surrounded by such excess.

The tape was released as part of the government's case against Kozlowski and former chief financial officer Mark Swartz, who built the company into a mammoth industrial conglomerate that makes everything from coat hangers to medical devices. They've been charged with stealing $170 million from the company and obtaining $430 million through fraudulent sales of securities.

All this allegedly happened while Kozlowski was making almost $293 million in salary, bonuses and stock proceeds from 1998 to 2001, making him one of the highest-paid U.S. executives.

Prosecutors contend that Tyco footed the bill for most of the $2 million weeklong party, which was stolen for personal use. Kozlowski's attorneys conceded that the party was held as a birthday celebration, but said Tyco business was handled, too.

The tape, just over 20 minutes long, included Jimmy Buffett singing — at a reported cost of $250,000 — and long-haired men in tiny briefs flexing their muscles. A stage was built resembling a Roman temple, with togas and torches all around. And there was Kozlowski, smiling and dancing with his wife.

This was the G-rated version. The whole tape was four hours, and among the things not shown were the full shot of an anatomically correct ice sculpture of Michelangelo's David dispensing vodka in an anatomically impossible way, a picture of guests "mooning" the camera, and two men dressed as ancient Romans carrying Kozlowski's wife over their heads.

Even though the money spent on this bash represents just a fraction of the millions the defendants are charged with stealing from Tyco, prosecutors are counting on the grandness of it to have an impact on the jury.

It just adds to the list of excesses allegedly paid for by Tyco. There's the $18 million New York apartment allegedly bought for Kozlowski and the $11 million supposedly spent on antiques, art and other furnishings.

That's where the $6,000 shower curtain in a gold-and-burgundy floral pattern comes in. Since news of its existence made headlines last fall, it quickly has become a symbol of executive gluttony and greed.

Now comes the tape.