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16 May 2012

5 CEOs who should already have been fired

Forbes compiles a wish list.

By New Statesman

Amid the CEOcalyspe that has been happening for the last few weeks, with Scott Thompson resigning, and Jamie “a billion here, a billion there” Dillon in hot water, Forbes have compiled a wish list of CEOS they think deserve to get fired:

1. Steve Ballmer, Microsoft

“Without a doubt, Mr. Ballmer is the worst CEO of a large publicly traded American company today.  Not only has he singlehandedly steered Microsoft out of some of the fastest growing and most lucrative tech markets (mobile music, handsets and tablets) but in the process he has sacrificed the growth and profits of not only his company but “ecosystem” companies such as Dell, Hewlett Packard and even Nokia.”

2. Edward Lampert, Sears Holdings

“Hope springs eternal in the micro-managing Mr. Lampert.  Everyone knows of his personal fortune (#367 on Forbes list of billionaires.)  But Mr. Lampert has destroyed Sears.  The company may already be so far gone as to be unsavable.”

3. Mike Duke, WalMart.

“We now know Mr. Duke’s business unit saw no problems with bribing foreign officials to grow its business.  Just on the basis of knowing about illegal activity, not doing anything about it (and probably condoning and recommending more,) and then trying to change U.S. law to diminish the legal repercussions, Mr. Duke should have long ago been fired.”

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4. Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric

“What has Mr. Immelt, in his decade at the top of GE, done to keep GE as one of the world’s most innovative, high growth companies?  He has steered the ship away from trouble, but it’s only gone in circles as it’s used up fuel.”

5. John Chambers, Cisco Systems

“Mr. Chambers has reorganized the company 3 times – but it has been much like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.  Lots of confusion, but no improvement in results.”

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