Bossing the bosses

Despite promising recent boardroom action, bosses are still insufficiently accountable to owners

IT HAS been a wretched few weeks for America's celebrity bosses. AIG's Maurice “Hank” Greenberg has been dramatically ousted from the firm through which he dominated global insurance for decades (see article) At Morgan Stanley a mutiny is forcing Philip Purcell, a boss used to getting his own way, into an increasingly desperate campaign to save his skin.

At Boeing, Harry Stonecipher was called out of retirement to lead the scandal-hit firm and raise ethical standards, only to commit a lapse of his own, being sacked (it seems) for sending e-mails to a lover who was also an employee. Carly Fiorina was the most powerful woman in corporate America until a few weeks ago, when Hewlett-Packard (HP) sacked her for poor performance. The fate of Bernie Ebbers is much grimmer. The once high-profile boss of WorldCom could well spend the rest of his life behind bars following his conviction last month on fraud charges.

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