firings

December 7, 1941. November 22, 1963. December 4, 2009. All dates of such historical and cultural significance that if you asked someone where they were that day, they’d surely be able to tell you. Because they weren’t just any old days; they were moments when everything changed. The bombing of Pearl Harbor; the assassination of JFK; and, perhaps most importantly, the firing of Jeffrey Gundlach from the TWC Group, which had taken issue with his decision to start his own firm, and choose to express that anger by first escorting him out of the building and second raiding his offices, where they found an amount of adult films and sexual devices that suggested Gundlach was operating an online wholesale sex shop distributor and keeping the inventory at work. TCW also sued its former employee and at the time, rather than roll over and take it which is something he would never do, Gundlach vowed to fight back and clear up the misconception that TCW was the victim in the situation. On the contrary, JG told people, the real victim was US taxpayers who were “promised” Gundlach’s services and had to settled for a subpar bond manager when his relationship with the firm was terminated. Gundlach ultimately emerged victorious* and perhaps even more satisfying to The Pope was the number of TCW employees and clients who followed him en masse to his new company, the aptly named DoubleLine Capital. We’re not sure how you celebrated last night’s hugely significant anniversary, but we do know how Gundlach did: Read more »

Barclays has fired five employees following its internal investigation of the rigging of Libor interest rates and disciplined another eight people, the head of its investment bank said on Wednesday. Rich Ricci, chief executive of Barclays’ corporate and investment banking, said “a lot” of the individuals identified in its internal probe had left the bank so it could not take action against them. [Reuters]

1. Get over it. 2. Get over it. UK judges couldn’t give less of a fuck. Read more »

On Tuesday afternoon, Yahoo Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz was notified that her services at the company were no longer necessary. The message was delivered over the phone and the fact that she wasn’t given the respect of a face to face meeting wasn’t the only thing that ticked Bartz off. “I was in New York to speak at Citigroup’s technology conference the next day and was told to call chairman Roy Bostock called Bartz. I called him at 6:06,” she told Fortune. “When he got on the line, he started reading a lawyer’s prepared statement to dismiss me. I said, ‘Roy, I think that’s a script. Why don’t you have the balls to tell me yourself? I thought you were classier.’” While it’s unclear why Bostock lacked the pair or the grace to go extempore, Bartz is pretty sure she knows why she was canned.

“These people fucked me over.” She adds, “The board was so spooked by being cast as the worst board in the country. Now they’re trying to show that they’re not the doofuses that they are.”

Well consider your plot foiled, boys! If anyone thought Bartz was going to go quietly, or go period, they thought wrong. Girlfriend’s not going anywhere, this much she promises you. Read more »

Until recently, Stephanie Bon, pictured, was working as an HR assistant for Lloyds, making £7/hour. The Chief Executive officer of the bank, António Horta-Osório, makes £4,000/hour (or £13.5million annually). Is this pay disparity fair? Stephanie didn’t think so! Read more »

The expert network has “severed its relationship” with the first person to be arrested by the feds as part of Insider Trading Fest(ivus) 2010. The company said in a statement that “based upon recent events,” DC is no longer with the firm. While presumably they’re talking about the charge by prosecutors this morning that he engaged in actions management frowns upon, it could very well be sex on the desk with the cleaning lady last night. We just don’t know. [MarketWatch]

Until early September of this year, Solomon Lederer rode the B train from his apartment in Brooklyn up to Morgan Stanley’s offices in midtown without interacting with his fellow commuters. But he wanted to. Underneath his blue shirt and black pants beat the heart of a guy with a dream. Namely, to “make the commute more interesting and productive.” His idea was to link up riders who needed favors with other riders willing to perform them (for example, Lederer needed someone to help him with “a fun little script-writing project” and in exchange offered anything from dog watching, closet organizing; a woman needed her soiled guinea pig cages cleaned, and in return she was offering to do anything “within reason and the confines of legality”). Mostly though, he was just about the people connection. Mixing things up. That kind of stuff. So he printed up some flyers, stuffed them in his man satchel and set out to do just that. Read more »

terridial.jpgTerri Dial, Chief Executive Officer of Consumer Banking in North America, and apparently not one of Vikram’s favorite gal-pals, is leaving for “personal reasons.” But that doesn’t mean you and Citi can’t SHINE ON! in her absence

From: Terri Dial
Date: January 12, 2010
Every journey faces twists and turns. My decision to move to a Senior Advisor role at Citi marks an important, unexpected shift in direction for me. As much as I have enjoyed my time leading North America Consumer Banking, I must now focus all my energies on my family. That is my top priority. Fortunately, I make this change with complete confidence in the direction of our consumer business for North America and the progress we’re making to put customers at the center of everything we do.
As you continue to journey forward, now under the direction of my talented colleague Manuel Medina-Mora, I ask you to always work to earn the right to serve our customers’ lifetime financial needs. We’ve ushered in a new era of simplicity, honesty and transparency in our consumer business. So remember to SHINE every day. Keep striving to get the fundamentals right for our customers and exceed their expectations.

Read more »