Recommended Reading - Kings of the Jungle, Barron's

Barron’s recently put out its annual list of the 30 most respected CEOs worldwide. This year’s list saw a number of changes from the previous year both in terms of additions and deletions. Many of the names that left the list saw their career fortunes take a turn for the worse, e.g., Sir Fred Goodwin of The Royal Bank of Scotland and Jeffrey Immelt of General Electric. The list is fun reading.

Recommended Reading - GE executive: Reorg will simplify conglomerate

Stephen Singer wrote a story that appeared in Business Week that examined the recent organizational changes at General Electric GE (NYSE).  GE announced recently it would reduce the company into four businesses from six as a way to ultimately increase efficiency and improve shareholder value. The gist of the article focused on the explanations given by John Rice, GE's vice chairman and president of the newly created GE Technology Infrastructure unit about the purposes behind the latest reorganization.  Rice, a star at GE, is being touted by some as a possible successor at some point to current CEO, Jeffrey Immelt.  Immelt has found himself under increasing pressure from shareholders (see earlier blog).  

Check out the Business Week story for a sense of Rice's talent. 

Recommended Reading - Haunting G.E. and A.I.G.

Yesterday Jeffrey Cane wrote a clever little piece in Portfolio.com on G.E. and A.I.G's former CEOs who have managed recently to give their predecessors further heartburn as they struggle with their current positions.  At a minimum, the piece is worth a good chuckle.  Check it out.

Recommended Reading - From CEO heroes to zeros

David Weidner's April 17 column on Market Watch entitled, From CEO heroes to Zeros examines three well known CEOs who he thinks have been over-rated and may deserve to be put out to pasture. Specifically, he examines Jeffrey Immelt, GE, Kerry Killinger, Washington Mutual and Ken Thompson, Wachovia. While I am do not view the position of these three CEOs in the same way as Mr. Weidner, the piece is a very worthwhile read.