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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAlbert J. Dunlap, one of the worst CEO's in History, boards train to hell
Prominent FSU supporter Al Dunlap passes away
Albert J. Dunlap, a former corporate executive and one of Florida State Universitys most generous supporters, passed away Friday, Jan. 25, at his home in Ocala after a brief illness. He was 81.
Dunlap will be remembered for his boisterous enthusiasm, his grand gestures of generosity and his popularity among Florida State student-athletes.
Al Dunlap was undeniably passionate about investing in the potential of future leaders, said FSU President John Thrasher. We are incredibly fortunate that two decades ago Al and his wife, Judy, chose to share that passion with FSU, fostering the achievements of our students and successes of this university. Their journey of generosity at Florida State is evident, from the Student Success Center in the center of campus to the athletic training facility at the stadium. Als legacy will live on to benefit future generations of Seminoles.
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Yeah, but...
Albert John Dunlap (July 26, 1937[1] January 25, 2019) was a American corporate executive. He was known at the peak of his career as a turnaround specialist and professional downsizer. It was later discovered that his reputed turnarounds were elaborate frauds. The ruthless methods he employed to streamline failing companies, most notably Scott Paper, won him the nicknames "Chainsaw Al" and "Rambo in Pinstripes". However, his career was effectively ended after he engineered a massive accounting scandal at Sunbeam Products, now Sunbeam-Oster, that ultimately cost that company its independence. He was barred from serving as an officer of a publicly traded corporation in the United States. His widespread layoffs and accounting frauds have put him on several lists of worst CEOs.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_J._Dunlap#Business_philosophy
Business philosophy
Dunlap believed that the primary goal of any business should be to make money for its shareholders. By all accounts this pursuit of profit was wholly unchecked by any regard for human dignity or compassion. To that end, he believed in making widespread cuts, including massive layoffs, in order to streamline operations. By firing thousands of employees at once and closing plants and factories, he drastically altered the economic status of such corporations as Scott Paper and Crown Zellerbach.
In 2005, the business magazine Fast Company included Dunlap in the article "Is Your Boss a Psychopath", noting he "might score impressively on the Corporate Psychopathy checklist." The magazine's editor. John A. Byrne, noted: "In all my years of reporting, I had never come across an executive as manipulative, ruthless, and destructive as Al Dunlap. Until the Securities and Exchange Commission barred him from ever serving as an officer of a public corporation, Dunlap sucked the very life and soul out of companies and people. He stole dignity, purpose, and sense out of organizations and replaced those ideals with fear and intimidation."
In the book The Psychopath Test, the author, Jon Ronson, recounted an interview he did with Dunlap in which he asked Dunlap if he felt he fit the characteristics of a psychopath, though without initially using the label "psychopath." According to Ronson, Dunlap freely admitted to possessing many of the traits of a psychopath, but that he considered them positive traits such as leadership and decisiveness. In a review of the book, Business Week reported that Dunlap "scores pretty high on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist." Ronson, however, also noted that Dunlap lacked other elements of psychopathy, such as a history of juvenile delinquency or unstable romantic relationships.
In May 2009, Conde Nast Portfolio.com named Dunlap the 6th worst CEO of all time.
Next stop, Hades...
Itchinjim
(3,085 posts)hatrack
(59,592 posts)And guess what, Al?
You're. Still. Fucking. Dead.
Buh-bye.
UpInArms
(51,284 posts)Destroyer of worlds ...
Farewell is easy ... hope you rot in hell
mnmoderatedem
(3,728 posts)Last edited Sun Jan 27, 2019, 10:15 AM - Edit history (1)
he actually had a book written about his misdeeds.
UpInArms
(51,284 posts)Some when they leave.
ProfessorGAC
(65,168 posts)Cut, cut, cut, fail is not a strategy.
It's merely a terribly selfish tactic.
Unclear to me how people this shortsighted end up running (& ruining) corporations.
BSdetect
(8,999 posts)JHB
(37,161 posts)...which says more about the mindset of the whole bunch -- their baseline for "normal" behavior -- than anything good about Romney.
mountain grammy
(26,648 posts)not fooled
(5,801 posts)Another loathsome financial predator whose bad deeds are ignored or glossed over in order to depict him as a palatable candidate for elected office.
And, a fraud as even some sort of "principled conservative"--he just voted to lift the sanctions on Rusal (Deripaska).
czarjak
(11,289 posts)Ferrets are Cool
(21,110 posts)UNTIL they work for him. Good riddance. Hope he is reincarnated as a slug.
Woodwizard
(846 posts)peggysue2
(10,839 posts)O.M. F**cking G. The man was a thief in pinstripes, a corporate raider with no conscience. But as with one other infamous maniac, he loved his dogs, German Shepherds as I remember.
My husband and I were linked to Scott Paper, a company over 100 years old that had employed generations of families. Chainsaw Al broke the company's back, sold off parts cheap, laid off workers and artificially boosted the stock price so that he, his cronies and upper management could fly into the sunset with platinum parachutes. Everyone else? We were screwed royally, left unemployed while Philadelphia was suffering its own a mini-recession. He ruined thousands of lives for his own personal gain. And, he was a nasty, nasty individual, treating those around him like dirt, including (at that time) Philadelphia's premier eatery, Le Bec-Fin, where he and his entourage were kicked out by the owner for mistreating the staff and then told never to return.
For years after, there was an annual party in Philly for former Scott Paper employees, Chainsaw Al fetes where the man was roasted and glasses raised to his demise.
The man who would be King is dead. May he rot in Hell.
Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Men like this should always be demonized and ridiculed, never admired.