Word: exley
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...situation was soon complicated by recession. Says Michael Porter, a professor at Harvard Business School: "Everyone knew at the time NCR was a third- or fourth-rate computer company, but somehow AT&T thought they could put it together and there'd be all this synergy." Charles Exley, who quit as NCR's CEO the day the merger took effect, chose not to crow about the results of Allen's folly. Says Exley, who now sails the world on his yacht: "Perhaps now NCR can go about its business once again...
...today's: no, thanks. NCR only recently revamped its product line, shifting from computers using its own software system to machines that run Unix and DOS. "We didn't want AT&T's computer mess dumped on us then, and we don't want it now," says Charles Exley, NCR's chief executive. In discussions last week with AT&T's chief executive, Robert Allen, Exley warned of the history of failed computer marriages, such as Sperry and Burroughs or IBM and Rolm: "The industry graveyard is littered with mergers that have been outright calamities, and there is no reason...
Allen's task is to convince the NCR chief that this acquisition would not become another tale from the crypt. Although Exley has threatened to resign if "AT&T succeeds in shooting its way into NCR," analysts think he can be persuaded by a higher price. NCR has indicated a willingness to submit, but at $125 a share (for a $8.5 billion total) rather than the $90 offered by AT&T. Wall Street observers think the two sides will settle at around $105 a share. For its part, AT&T refuses to back down. In a letter to Exley, Allen...
Ostensibly, this pilgrimage to pay respects to and then bury the dead is Exley's story. In practice, the narrative evolves into a surrealistic odyssey. On his flight, Exley bumps into James Seamus Finbarr O'Twoomey, a preposterously gross Irishman with an equally incredible brogue ("Frederick, me lurverly, there you go again") who will later hold the hapless author hostage in a Pacific paradise. Also aboard is the future Mrs. Exley, a murderously sexy flight attendant named Robin...
While keeping all these odd characters, including his own, in frenetic movement, Exley again demonstrates his skill at hallucinatory free association. The point of the exercise may be lost on those who expect stories to make sense. For Exley addicts, there is another concern. He calls Last Notes "the third volume of my trilogy." Why he should stop where this book does, with the narrator newly married and looking for trouble, requires a full explanation. At the very least, Exley should go for a tetralogy...