Word: jeaned
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...bringing an explosive end to his career as CEO of the Franco-American media giant Vivendi, Jean-Marie Messier managed a rare feat in the world of global business. He combined Gallic intransigence with Yankee arrogance to infuriate shareholders and employees on both sides of the Atlantic. The French hated him for selling out their culture, acting like a foreign mogul and moving to New York City. North Americans hated him for losing money and refusing to concede that his strategy had faltered. Even as the company's stock price descended to new lows, he spoke of running Vivendi...
Messier was forced to resign when French board members joined the biggest North American shareholders--the Bronfman family, led by Vivendi vice chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr.--in concluding that French business honor (not to mention Bronfman billions) could be redeemed only by bringing on a new boss. Jean-Rene Fourtou, a well-respected pharmaceuticals-industry veteran, is now in charge...
There was no shortage of irony as Bronfman helped wrest Vivendi away from chief executive Jean-Marie Messier. After all, like Messier, Bronfman always came across as a bit of a dilettante and star-struck CEO. At Universal he once sent a memo to studio executives saying he expected to have double-digit earnings growth every quarter, a virtual impossibility in such a hit-driven industry...
...Decide it would be easier to win Nobel Peace Prize than Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. I go to Baghdad, negotiate arms-inspection deal with Saddam, Gulfstream out of Iraqi air space before he reads the fine print and realizes he's screwed. Mike's back, big time...
...mail Jean at moneytalk@moneymail.com