Nardelli Resigns as Home Depot CEO

[CanOfWhoopAss]

Nardelli quits as Home Depot chief

By PATTI BOND
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 01/03/07

Home Depot Chairman and Chief Executive Bob Nardelli has resigned from the Atlanta-based home improvement retailer, the company said Wednesday.

He'll be replaced by Frank Blake, Home Depot's current vice chairman of the Board of Directors and executive vice president.


Home Depot didn't say why Nardelli was leaving, but the company's board met Tuesday and apparently agreed on the shake-up.

Despite making significant improvements to Home Depot's financial operations, Nardelli became a lighting rod for criticism during his six years at the helm. The General Electric veteran was lambasted by investors and corporate governance groups for his hefty pay in the face of a sagging stock price.

Criticism peaked at Home Depot's annual meeting in May, when Nardelli, the only board member to attend the meeting, refused to answer shareholders' questions.

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2007/01/03/0103nardelli.html

Yahoo link if AJC blocks unregistered readers.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070103/ap_on_bi_ge/home_depot_nardelli

[n2doc]

1. Another Thief Executive Officer

Hundreds of millions looted to line his pockets. Stock price, company balance sheet going nowhere during his "leadership". I could care less about HD itself, as it was founded and run by Pukes, but these funds always come out of the workers pockets.

[acmavm]

2. There's some confusion as to why the guy left? I think I can

figure it out. I bet he was pushed because the stockholders have had it.

Do ya think?

[Warpy]

3. I hope so!

I know Home Depot here has gone way down hill. Once they'd driven all the mom & pop hardware stores out of business, and some of them had been quite good, they eliminated knowledgeable staff and hired kids part time at lower wages who didn't know their thumbs from their bums and were capable of nothing but stocking shelves and telling shoppers where they'd put things. The store became poorly stocked, always out of something or other in every department.

This is an indication that somebody in upper management was milking the corporation for everything he could get out of it. My guess is that somebody on the board finally went into one of those places and noticed how bad it had become and figured it out.

I'm sure Nardelli will coast to earth on his platinum parachute, cash out, and join all other disgraced embezzlers on prime property somewhere in the Caribbean.

We'll be left hoping for well aimed hurricanes.

[LiberalFighter]

4. Only one board member attended? Is that standard practice?

[Historic NY]

5. Where I live both HD & Lowes are horrible..........

they advertise stuff but when you go to the store its not there, they sometimes have no cashiers, help that can't answer questions. I was at H.D. last week and apparently they had a private company doing inventory. I thought the gentleman was an employee and asked for him to see if there was an item on the upper racks. He then said he didn't work for the company, we talked for a bit and this store lost 1 million in "shrink" thats theft or bad accounting of merchandise in 6 months. They were called in to see if they could locate where stuff went.

[AlCzervik]

6. good, i worked for HD before him and imo he helped ruin the company.

[Zenlitened]

7. Departs with a $210 Million severance package

Ain't life grand?

And here's part of Home Depot's statement:

ATLANTA, Jan. 3 -- The Board of Directors of The Home Depot(R) and Bob Nardelli announced today that they have mutually agreed that Nardelli would leave his position as The Home Depot's chairman, president & CEO and as a Director effective January 2, 2007. Frank Blake, the Company's current vice chairman of the Board of Directors and executive vice president succeeds Nardelli, effective immediately.

The Home Depot's Board said, "We are very grateful to Bob for his strong leadership of The Home Depot over the past six years. Under Bob's tenure, the Company made significant and necessary investments that greatly improved the Company's infrastructure and operations, expanded our markets to include wholesale distribution and new geographies, and undertook key strategic initiatives to strengthen the company's foundation for the future. The Home Depot has delivered strong and consistent growth and gained market share under Bob's leadership, and we believe that the Company is well positioned to continue to do so. We thank Bob for his contributions, hard work and dedication and wish him all the best in his future endeavors."

More:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116783043728965894.html?mod=home_whats_news_us

[Zenlitened]

12. Update: Rep. Frank (D-Mass.) Hammers Home Depot

January 3, 2007, 11:45 am

Rep. Frank Hammers Home Depot

It didn’t take long for Rep. Barney Frank (D., Mass.), chairman-designate of the House Financial Services Committee, to express outrage at the CEO shuffle at Home Depot.

“The action of Home Depot’s board of directors to simultaneously dismiss Robert Nordelli and provide him with $210 million in severance is further confirmation of the need to deal with a pattern of CEO pay that appears to be out of control.” Frank said in a statement “Some defenders of CEO pay argue that CEOs are rewarded for increasing the stock or the overall value of the company, but judging by today’s market reaction, Mr. Nardelli’s contribution to raising Home Depot’s stock value consists of quitting and receiving hundreds of millions of dollars to do so.”

Frank, a longtime critic of outsized executive pay packages and a proponent of a higher minimum wage for workers, added: “Business leaders who are frustrated by the unwillingness of the American voter to be supportive of their agenda for economic growth should look to the contrast of Mr. Nardelli’s consolation prize and the resistance of business to raising the minimum wage.” –Mary Lu Carnevale

Source:
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/01/03/rep-frank-hammers-home-depot/trackback/

[RubyDuby in GA]

8. Wondering if he'll be hosting any more fundraisers at his house for assholes:

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=addl2Y82Stxg&refer=us

Tonight, Bush headlined a fund-raiser at the Atlanta home of Robert Nardelli, chief executive officer of Home Depot Inc., the world's largest home-improvement chain. The $3.2 million raised will go to the Republican National Committee, Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel said.

Nardelli gave $25,000 to the Republican National Committee and $2,000 to the Bush campaign in the past year. The Home Depot political action committee, to which Nardelli contributed $5,000 last year, gave 78 percent of its donations to Republicans, according to the nonpartisan tracking group PoliticalMoneyLine.

Four of Nardelli's family members in Atlanta have given a combined $8,000 to Bush, according to Federal Election Commission records. Last Dec. 5, Nardelli closed a Home Depot store to the public in suburban Baltimore for a few hours so Bush could visit the store and tout his $1.7 trillion tax cuts.

On edit: I protested in the "free speech zone" a half a mile away from the house. I hate this man.

[MGKrebs]

13. Uh, Ruby, we were a half mile away from

the nearest INTERSECTION to the street the house was on! We could barely see the motorcade go by off in the distance. Chickenshit clowns can't let the Savant see anything that might confuse or disturb him.



:hi:

[CurtEastPoint]

14. Ruby I love you for posting that. That chapped my hide! MY HD MONEY GOING TO BUSH!

F'ing assholes, all of them!

I just wrote a note to Investor Relations at HD blasting this $210 million outrage. Yes, I do have stock in HD but that was before I turned totally 'blue'!

We'll see if they respond.

GOOD FOR YOU FOR POSTING THAT NARDELLI SUCKS BUSH'S BUTT!!

[ozymandius]

17. As Bush's crotch goes -- so goes Nardelli.

Decent people should shun this man. I was shocked to learn about a year ago how Nardelli nearly flung himself into Bush's arms without invitation. The man symbolizes corporate whoredom. He might as well work for a pimp.

[Divine Discontent]

9. and still they continue to hire these puffed up CEO's for millions???!!! n/t

[brentspeak]

10. Who knows how many mom-and-pop hardware stores Home Depot put out of business

Nardelli can choke on his golden parachute.

[PassingFair]

11. The "stockholders" are the PROBLEM.

OK, not the "holders" per se....


but the idiotic decisions and blatant ILLEGAL
bookkeeping methods that go into PLEASING the
stockholders during an economic "downturn" or
"depression" or "recession" or WHATEVER you
call the current MESS we are in.

We are experiencing the same CRAP absolute
PANIC at the corporation where I work
(a large sales-based organization).

The Enronization of America RUNS DEEP.

We are SCREWN, we just don't realize it yet.

All that being said.....they manage to prop it up,
month after month... so at the risk of sounding like
Cassandra....

please disregard everything I just typed.

I know NOTHING!

[Jacobin]

15. Wanted to spend more time with his yatch?

:puke:

[kevinmc]

16. No Suprise another GE Jack Welch Clone .... n/t