Alanis Morissette got Ironic wrong...

Post in response to: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/05/fiorina.pay/index.html

It's ironic that Carly Fiorina of all people would be up talking about CEO malfeasance and doing the "right" thing... she was one of the CEOs who got it wrong and knows exactly how NOT to do things!

Case in point -- when HP/Compaq were in the process of merging and thousands of layoffs were occurring and profits were way down (mostly due to mismanagement -- not necessarily due to the merger itself), Carly and her executive team were still flying around in their executive jets. There were very few jobs available for internal HP employees who were about to be axed (or who feared their division might be next) to transfer to that were considered safe... but the one that caught many an eye -- a host/hostess position available to stand by and be ready to serve on the corporate jets, paying $50,000/yr.

So, Carly, please continue to lecture us on how responsible corporate American is being and how we should let the markets continue to ruin us... but don't expect us to listen.

I will say that several of the other posters here have hit on a few salient points -- CJ's points on the proxy voting is excellent -- but I guess it drives home a point that we have been allowing the foxes to guard the hen house, and if we're going to "invest" and "own" a stake in a company, then we should stand ready to be there for the meetings and make our voices heard -- because otherwise, much of the culpability falls on our shoulders as well. The trend for investing solely for profit and day trading are also to blame for the fiscal fiasco we find ourselves mired in.
A good example from recent history -- there was unrest at the Walt Disney Company. People were justifiably unhappy with the performance of then CEO Michael Eisner. Mike had had a decent tenure and had done a number of positive things for the Disney company, but his time had come, and he was unwilling to remove himself from the post for reasons best left unsaid. But the stakeholders had enough, and led by majority sharedholders Roy Disney and Stanley Gold and a very well engineering majority, a no-confidence vote was held (non-binding, but very visible) and Mike Eisner vacated his seat shortly thereafter.

When we take the responsibilty that being an "owner" comes with -- and not just the privilege of profit -- we can make a difference. The blame cannot rest entirely on the shoulders of the CEOs, their companies or the government. We, too, must take our medicine and change the way we behave in order to make a lasting difference and to move to a new era of stability and transparency, where all can find success when they do the right thing.