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The Untouchables

Oct 05 2008

Back to: Failure Is an Option

Robert Nardelli
Don Carty
George Shaheen
Carl Yankowski
Leo Hindery
Alex Mandl
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Robert Nardelli
For C.E.O.'s, life seems to mean never having to say you're sorry. Because recruiters and boards value past C.E.O. experience more significantly than almost anything else, poor records tend to be glossed over. In Nardelli's case, eight months after being pressured to step down as Home Depot's C.E.O. in 2007, he was tapped by Cerberus Capital Management to become chairman and C.E.O. of the newly privatized Chrysler.
Don Carty
Carty resigned as C.E.O. of American Airlines in 2003 after dramatically failing to negotiate a cost-cutting deal with the airlines' labor unions. Three years later, Virgin America saw fit to appoint him chairman of its fledgling airline.
George Shaheen
Under Shaheen's watch, grocery delivery company Webvan lost $600 million in less than two years. But that didn't stop software company Siebel Systems from hiring him as C.E.O. several years later.
Carl Yankowski
Ah, where to begin? After a strong run as president of Sony Electronics in the mid-'90s, Yankowski was hired successively to run Reebok, Palm, and Majesco with spectacularly poor results at each. He currently serves as C.E.O of Ambient Devices, a small consumer electronics company in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Leo Hindery
In 2000, former AT&T executive Hindery resigned as C.E.O. of Global Crossing after only seven months on the job following months of steadily declining stock prices. However, the following year he was asked to become C.E.O. of the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network.
Alex Mandl
Despite his many troubles running competitive local exchange carrier Teligent, Mandl was asked to come on board as C.E.O. of Gemplus International in 2002.

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