Thursday, March 20, 2003

Presented without comment Columnist Bob Herbert, in today's New York Times says: Do most Americans understand that even as we are launching one of the most devastating air assaults in the history of warfare, private companies are lining up to reap the riches of rebuilding the very structures we're in the process of destroying? Companies like Halliburton, Schlumberger and the Bechtel Group understand this conflict a heck of a lot better than most of the men and women who will fight and die in it, or the armchair patriots who'll be watching on CNN and cheering them on. It's not unpatriotic to say that there are billions of dollars to be made in Iraq and that the gold rush is already under way. It's simply a matter of fact. 12:02:14 PM    Oh yeah? [] The 101 Dumbest Moments in Business Business 2.0 released their list of the 101 business "lowlights" of 2002. It must have been tough to narrow it down to such a small list. Making the cut at #97, this one is simply amazing: Shortly after declaring bankruptcy in January, Kmart appoints turnaround specialist James Adamson as its new CEO. Ten months and more than 30,000 layoffs later, Adamson resigns from his post. Under terms of his contract, however, he'll be rewarded with as much as $3.6 million after Kmart comes out of Chapter 11. Adamson's total take: nearly $7 million. Kmart losses under his watch: about $2 billion. Corporate reform? Investor oversight? Get serious. Even after Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing, et. al., a public company rewards a CEO with a $7 million compensation package. That in itself is egregious enough. But this bozo oversaw the company's devolution into bankruptcy. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Make me the CEO of a company for a year. Any company. I can run it into bankruptcy just as capably as the next guy and I'll only charge $1 million. No car, no corporate jet, no stock options. Looks to me like I'd be saving your company money over what that highly touted turnaround artist would charge. Give me a call. Really. I can do this. 10:07:27 AM    Oh yeah? []