If a company puts itself up for sale, where should a CEO make his first TV appearance? Most people would assume CNBC, but Timberland Co.'s CEO, Jeffrey Swartz, who's known as an iconoclast, instead opted for "The Colbert Report" where he inadvertently may have given insight into why he's selling.
The same day that media reports surfaced that the apparel and shoemaker had hired Goldman, Sachs & Co. to explore a possible sale, Swartz, dressed in his company's apparel, sat with faux-conservative pundit Stephen Colbert to discuss issues such as the environment and the responsibilities of a CEO.
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Interestingly, Swartz spoke at great lengths about his responsibility to improve earnings every 90 days with no mention that he may free himself of that issue by taking the company private through an auction. For Colbert, who is known to "nail" people for being contradictory or insincere, he missed a great opportunity with Swartz. Of course, Colbert admitted from the get-go that he was confused by how Swartz could care for the environment while running a big company worth $2 billion.
However, Swartz's concern for the environment, and Colbert's goofing on the notion that shareholders don't care whether a CEO dumps heavy metals into rivers, could explain the impetus for Timberland's decision to go private. Perhaps Colbert is right, and shareholders don't care about whether Timberland is "carbon neutral," but instead are more interested in increased earnings at any cost. Despite Swartz's claims to the contrary, perhaps he is finding it difficult to reconcile those two issues; therefore, he's hoping as a private company, Timberland would be free to keep up its conservation efforts without worrying about quarterly reports. —Matthew Wurtzel
See story from Reuters via CNN Money
See part 1 of the interview from Comedy Central
See part 2 of the interview from Comedy Central
