I worked for two very large fortune 100 companies. Both of them had people in management quite obviously taking personal kickbacks from vendors. Sometimes right out in the open. I would loudly point it out in meetings, which got me uninvited from a bunch of meetings.
Every POC I have been involved in, across multiple firms, was driven by management trying to send some business to a buddys company
> which got me uninvited from a bunch of meetings.
So, not a total loss.