This-- the Securities and Exchange Commission's plan to show us it means business by robbing our nation's banks of the right to appoint actors and sports stars to their boards--is a bunch of bull shit. And I'll have you know The Juice has more business acumen in his pinkie than every Bank of America director combined. Also, do not discount the value of having some with the sort of initiative, drive and loose interpretation of the law that'll allow him to say "I'm gonna break in there and get my shit," which you don't often find in the boardroom.
U.S. companies' celebrity directors include Armstrong, 37, who quit last year after being paid $71,644 by Morgans; National Football League running back O.J. Simpson, 61, a member of four boards and the audit committee at Infinity Broadcasting Corp. before prosecutors charged him in the 1994 murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend; and National Basketball Association hall-of-fame guard Oscar Robertson, 70, a Countrywide director for eight years until the lender, at risk of collapse, was bought by Bank of America in 2008."What the SEC wants to do is prompt companies to make sure they're appointing directors who can do the job and not just look pretty on a roster," said Stephen Davis, a senior fellow at the Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance at the Yale School of Management.
The rules to be discussed by the SEC tomorrow would require companies to disclose information about directors' skills and experience on issues from executive pay to accounting rules. The agency is acting after boards at Bank of America, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, and Countrywide Financial Corp. failed to rein in lending that contributed to the financial crisis.
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 5:17PM
What!?!?
Posted by Anal_yst , Jun 30, 2009 5:17PM
isn't looking pretty on a roster the whole point of board selection?
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 5:22PM
[hits jukebox]
Citi's fixed--hey!
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 5:22PM
I'm for making BAC a giant experiment to test this. Lets appoint a board full of Hooters girls and see how the company is doing in 2 years.
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 5:24PM
@4 same or better, definitely no worse
Posted by american bandersnatch , Jun 30, 2009 5:28PM
"I'm telling you to shut up! I will tell your recorder so that you don't forget!"
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 5:33PM
There is an interesting article discussing this exact issue in the Bob Loblaw law blog today.
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 5:34PM
Vin Diesel would be my choice.
J.T Marlin
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 5:57PM
Sit on it!
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 6:04PM
What's wrong with Barry Zuckercorn? He's very good.
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 6:10PM
I swear to God, I trust the Fonz more than Pandit. He made MacGyver which is more successful than Old Lane in that it didn't lose money (indeed in many ways homeless people are better than Pandit, they owe nothing and haven't lost millions)
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 6:11PM
Anybody remember all the Disney celebrity directors testifying in the Michael Ovitz shareholder suit? Most entertaining day of Chancery history.
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 6:35PM
The SEC has jumped the shark tank; full off Mexican cocaine sharks with lasers on their heads.
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 7:20PM
"Weekend at Bernie's 3: Chairman of the UBS Board"
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 7:20PM
Is Craig T Nelson still qualified? ...I mean it's not like he was a pro athlete - he was the coach.
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 7:26PM
I tell you what you dont want to do and that's buy stock in the LA Kings
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 7:29PM
Forget the Fonz. Danny Bonaduce for Director! He will mess you up if you stand in his way.
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 7:33PM
Give the Buse' a shot!!!
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 7:43PM
The entire cast of Saturday Night Live.
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 7:52PM
What about Danny Zucco?
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 8:01PM
"...just look pretty on a roster."
Kinda sums up Yale SOM grads, doesn't it?
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 9:00PM
Citi just jumped the friggin' Shark.
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 9:09PM
What Bess is saying is that it makes no difference. A celebrity director is going to be as shallow as a non-celebrity director.
The companies can disclose as much as they want about their directors, but they are still going to appoint those who get along with the CEO. The comedy continues.
BTW, Barry Zuckercorn was brilliant, I really miss that show.
Barry: I got Michael out of his marriage, didn’t I?
Michael: Actually she died.
Barry: You’re kidding me. I’ve been taking credit for that for years.
Michael: Credit?
Posted by guest , Jun 30, 2009 9:37PM
Heyyyyyy!
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 8:08AM
He's really good.
Posted by Madmoney , Jul 01, 2009 9:33AM
I'm saddened that it took 7 comments to get a Bob Loblaw mention.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 10:07AM
But if they get rid of the celebrity directors, where are they going to get their women and minority directors from? Maxine Waters has only so much time in her schedule.
But Barry would make a great director--he's very good!
Barry: "So, basically, you’re about 2,000 shares short of being the majority stockholders. Now, unfortunately, it’s a private stock, so you cannot just buy up the shares unless someone is willing to sell."
Michael: "Are you sure?"
Barry: "That’s what they said on 'Ask Jeeves.'"
Posted by guest , Jul 02, 2009 11:03AM
"The Juice has more business acumen in his pinkie than every Bank of America director combined."
Well, yes. After all, the BAC board believed Ken Lewis for years.