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player ready...The first quarter’s economic slowdown has been painful for many CEOs, but the suffering hasn’t been distributed evenly. In the technology business, the downturn has been devastating.
Take Robert Bernard, MarchFirst’s former chief executive. A few weeks ago, Bernard was pushed out of the Chicago-based Internet consultancy he founded, and the value of his stock holdings in the firm have plunged by nearly $1 billion.
Other CEOs are feeling the heat as well. As Schaumburg-based Motorola sputters, calls for the removal of CEO Chris Galvin have intensified.
While chief executives at many old-economy companies are wrestling with lower sales, others have benefited from a return to investor conservatism.
William Wrigley Jr.’s company is one example. Shares of the Chicago-based Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. are trading at close to a 52-week high, as investors rediscover firms that make tangible products like chewing gum.
Nell Minow, a corporate watchdog who is editor of The Corporate Library Web site, said she expects more CEOs to lose their jobs in 2001 than a year ago. Still, she added, “It’s hard to feel too bad about them because they land so softly.”