From NOT ALWAYS RIGHT: And To Think My Parents Said An English Lit Degree Was Worthless (Kinda long story so fell free to skip)
This is the story of how our CEO who I admire and respect became CEO.
He had been the Senior Vice President for a few years. The owner of the company wanted him to take over as CEO as the owner was going to retire, and the company was going to transition into more of a corporate governing structure. Some of this had already been completed; they had a board of directors, etc.
The debate over who would be the CEO came down to two people: [Senior VP] and [VP].
[Senior VP] was hired by this company straight out of college when he was twenty-one; he grew from the bottom up. He had worked in basically every department and led every department, and he understood the company inside and out.
[VP] came into the company as a vice president. He had an MBA and experience in the industry, and he was the second favorite to become CEO.
In an early discussion, the board apparently wanted to vote on who would become the interim CEO before the owner retired. They wanted this to be an eighteen-month run-up as taking over was considered a big deal. [VP] knew [Senior VP] was the primary contender and had him beaten out by a few votes. So, [VP] brought up the fact that the company bylaws stated that the executive officers — CEO, Chief Technology Officer, Chief Information Officer, and Chief Financial Officer — all had to have college degrees, and therefore, [Senior VP] wasn’t qualified.
This caused the meeting to come to an end. I believe at this point [VP] felt he had [Senior VP] beat. So, [Senior VP] went to the owner and had a conversation.
At the next meeting, the CEO stated that he intended on doing one year longer. The board was shocked, but nothing said the CEO had to retire when he said he would.
From NOT ALWAYS RIGHT: And To Think My Parents Said An English Lit Degree Was Worthless (Kinda long story so fell free to skip)
This is the story of how our CEO who I admire and respect became CEO.
He had been the Senior Vice President for a few years. The owner of the company wanted him to take over as CEO as the owner was going to retire, and the company was going to transition into more of a corporate governing structure. Some of this had already been completed; they had a board of directors, etc.
The debate over who would be the CEO came down to two people: [Senior VP] and [VP].
[Senior VP] was hired by this company straight out of college when he was twenty-one; he grew from the bottom up. He had worked in basically every department and led every department, and he understood the company inside and out.
[VP] came into the company as a vice president. He had an MBA and experience in the industry, and he was the second favorite to become CEO.
In an early discussion, the board apparently wanted to vote on who would become the interim CEO before the owner retired. They wanted this to be an eighteen-month run-up as taking over was considered a big deal. [VP] knew [Senior VP] was the primary contender and had him beaten out by a few votes. So, [VP] brought up the fact that the company bylaws stated that the executive officers — CEO, Chief Technology Officer, Chief Information Officer, and Chief Financial Officer — all had to have college degrees, and therefore, [Senior VP] wasn’t qualified.
This caused the meeting to come to an end. I believe at this point [VP] felt he had [Senior VP] beat. So, [Senior VP] went to the owner and had a conversation.
At the next meeting, the CEO stated that he intended on doing one year longer. The board was shocked, but nothing said the CEO had to retire when he said he would.
(Contd)