Both Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Hewlett-Packard Co. shook up their board rooms Tuesday.
The pharmaceutical company was the first of the day to announce management changes. The troubled company ousted CEO Peter Dolan and general counsel Richard Willard. Dolan's five-year tenure culminated in a $2.5 billion accounting scandal, the overpriced acquisition of ImClone and the premature loss of blockbuster cardiovascular treatment Plavix, so his firing really isn't too shocking. Board member and former Guidant CEO James Cornelius will become interim CEO. So who would want to take the helm of a company forced to have a government representative on its board? Forbes may have the answer. The business publisher does what it does best compiling lists. In this case, Forbes has identified five candidates for the job — four if you consider hiring Cornelius full time as too obvious.
The other board room shake-up occurred across the country in Silicon Valley. HP chairwoman Patricia Dunn, who authorized a board room investigation that involved a deceitful technique to obtain personal records, will step down on January 18. HP CEO Mark Hurd will replace Dunn as the chairman. Dunn's resignation was prompted by the disclosure that an investigation she authorized employed investigators posing as the investigation's targets, HP directors, in order to obtain phone records and other personal documents in an attempt to identify who leaked information to a CNet rerporter. The method is called pre-texting and it is illegal. Dunn claims she was unaware the investigators were using illegal tactics.
Dunn's resignation received far more press than the Dolan firing. How much more publicized is the Dunn story than the Dolan one? About 6 to 1 according to Google News' count. While Dunn allowed an investigation that involved unscrupulous means, arguably Dolan's $2.5 billion accounting scandal, not to mention a potentially illegal plan to thwart competition, is equally if not more egregious than Dunn's actions.—Matthew Wurtzel
See story about Bristol-Myers from Reuters
See story about Bristol-Myers from Forbes
See list of Bristol candidates from Forbes
See story about HP from The Washington Post
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