New research highlights the extent to which company directors have less shareholder-centric views than has traditionally been the case, or at least has been assumed. At the same time, those directors often believe they do not get credit for thinking beyond the shareholder base.
According to a report from Diligent Institute and the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University, 89 p...
The boardroom Archive
Executive officer transitions arise under a variety of circumstances. According to a report from recruitment firm Spencer Stuart, 69 percent of CEO departures in the US last year were the result of retirements or resignations. This is consistent with the expectation that most CEO appointments have historically been made through some form of succession planning.
But Spencer Stuart also reports that 22 percent of CEOs resigned under some form of pressure, and when a C...
– CNN reported that McDonald’s CEO and president Steve Easterbrook was out after the board determined he had violated company policy. Easterbrook, who became CEO in 2015, ‘demonstrated poor judgment involving a recent consensual relationship with an employee,’ the company said in a statement. He has ‘separated’ from the company and has been replaced in bo...
General counsel at large US public companies continue to make steady gains in compensation, according to new research, as the job evolves into a more strategic and business-focused role.
A report by Equilar and search firm BarkerGilmore states that over the past five years there has been a 7.4 percent increase in general counsel median total compensation. That figure stood at $2.6 million in 2018, a 3.7 percent increase from the previous year. The study covers the 5...
– The Wall Street Journal reported that shares of newly public companies, which had been hot investments earlier in the year, are now in a slump after investors turned on unprofitable start-ups. Shares of technology start-ups and other companies that went public in the US this year were trading roughly 5 percent above, on average, their...
Diversity and ESG issues have been prominent on investor and board agendas in recent years, but a new survey suggests some directors are becoming fatigued by the attention placed on these issues.
According to the PwC survey, 63 percent of directors polled say investors devote too much attention to board gender diversity, up from 35 percent last year. Fifty-eight percent have the same view of racial/ethnic diversity, an increase from 33 percent in 2018.
The pr...
– Reuters reported that Martina Merz, chair of Thyssenkrupp’s supervisory board, took over as CEO on October 1. Her appointment was agreed unanimously by the group’s supervisory board and will be limited to a maximum term of 12 months, the group said. It added that the contract with former CEO Guido Kerkhoff was terminated by mutual a...
In the face of rapidly advancing technology, organizations are adapting to a never-ending cycle of pressures, each of which can disrupt a portion of the business system and often threaten the entire business model. As we have heard from dozens of CEOs we interviewed for a recent study, this relentlessly disruptive environment has demanded a shift in how they need to respond.
Our inquiry into disruption from the perspective of CEOs, and how they believe they should c...
State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) is seeing progress in its multi-year campaign to boost female representation in the boardroom – but is still finding that many companies are not taking action, according to a new report.
The firm states in its latest stewardship report that as of June 30, 2019, 43 percent of companies – repres...
– Nissan’s board of directors announced that CEO Hiroto Saikawa had resigned, effective September 16, CNN reported. The board named COO Yasuhiro Yamauchi as acting CEO while Nissan searches for a successor. Saikawa’s resignation came days after he admitted to reporters in Japan that he and other top Nissan executives were overpaid as part of a stock-related payment plan...