Recommended Reading - The Rich Get Richer: Top CEO Pay Up While Stocks Tumble, Yahoo Finance

Michelle Leder of Footnoted.org was recently interviewed by Henry Blodgett and Aaron Task about the huge salaries many top CEOs have continued to receive while the performance of their respective companies have often been mediocre or poor. Check it out, Michelle’s analysis is often quite sobering. For the interview click here.

Office Depot's CFO To Leave

Michelle Leder of footnoted.org has done it again. By examining a company's SEC filings she has come up with "news". Earlier today Ms. Leder put out a blog on her examination of Office Depot's 10k. Yesterday Office Depot ODP (NYSE) announced the departure of its CFO, Patricia McKay. In the company release the firm stated,

Office Depot is announcing that its Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Patricia A. McKay, is leaving the Company effective March 1, 2008. Charles E. Brown, the Company's President, International, has agreed to assume the role of acting Chief Financial Officer following McKay's departure. Brown was Office Depot's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 2001 to 2005. Office Depot plans to begin its search for a permanent Chief Financial Officer immediately and will announce a successor when this process is completed.

Commenting on McKay's departure, Steve Odland, Office Depot's Chief Executive Officer, said: "Pat has made valuable contributions to the Company since joining the management team in 2005. We thank her for her tireless work and dedication to the Company. We also wish her all the best in her future endeavors."

Ms. Leder started her blog as follows (a far more informative take on the situation than what was contained in the company's press release):

Yesterday, Office Depot ODP Announced disappointing fourth quarter results, and mentioned, almost in passing that CFO Patricia McKay, was leaving at the end of the week. We’re sure this sudden departure had nothing — absolutely nothing — to do with a disclosure in the 10-K that the company filed yesterday:

We are subject to a formal order of investigation from the SEC, in connection with our contacts and communications with financial analysts during 2007, as well as certain other matters, including inventory receipt, timing of vendor payments, certain intercompany loans and the timing of recognition of vendor program funds.

Office Depot demonstrates the importance of management change. Stay tuned.

For more:

Reuters
Financial Week

Petsmart Appoints New CFO

Petsmart PETM (NASDAQ) appointed Lawrence Molloy senior vice president and chief financial officer, effective late September. Molloy will be the principal financial officer and will lead all areas of finance including analysis, planning, compliance and reporting, as well as business and financial strategy. He will report to Phil Francis, chairman and chief executive officer. He succeeds Tim Kullman, who resigned earlier this year. Molloy joins PetSmart after four years at Circuit City Stores Inc., including the last year as vice president and chief financial officer of retail.

Molloy's appointment comes as Petsmart appears to have acknowledged potential financial problems associated with the earlier tainted dog and cat food scandal that hurt pets all over. Earlier today, Michelle Leder in her Footnoted.org blog wrote a piece on Petsmart where she referred specifically to a recent SEC filing the company made last Friday regarding potential financial difficulties the company might face with lawsuits associated with the pet food scandal. Is Molloy's appointment a coincidence to Petsmart's Friday SEC filing?

For more on the change see:

Forbes

Trading Markets.com

CEO Revolving Door at SM and A

Michelle Leder's latest entry into her Footnoted blog is worth a read. She focuses on the recent CEO drama at SM and A WINS (NASDAQ), a provider of business strategy and proposal development services. The company announced on July 19th that its Board of Directors entered into a multi-year agreement with Cathy McCarthy to become President & CEO of the company effective immediately. McCarthy's appointment follows Cynthia A. Davis' resignation from the Company as well as its Board of Directors, which was accepted a day earlier. Ms. Davis had served as CEO since April 2007. Ms. McCarthy was previously President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company. Obviously there is more here.