Monday, March 30, 2009

New York State, a Bellwether?

The United States government firing CEOs of private companies is a frightening proposition. Unfortunately, here in New York, that sort of government intrusion is old hat.

Remember this?

...the notion of an Attorney General [Eliot Spitzer] essentially installing at executives at public companies is frightening one and hopefully the failure of Mr. Cherkasky -- his resignation as CEO prompted a 5% run-up in the stock -- will put an end to experiments like this one for a long time to come.

Spitzer refused to negotiate with AIG and Marsh McClennan until their CEOs (Hank and Jeffrey Greenberg) resigned. Jeffrey Greenberg's replacement at Marsh McClennan was Michael Cherkasky who was Eliot Spitzer's old boss the the New York County District Attorney's Office. Coincidence?

And, it's evident that both firms haven't been successful in the post-Greenberg era.

New York is serving as a bellwether for the rest of the country. Not pretty...

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