7 Highly Entrenched CEO's (Part 1)

Stock Tickers: DELL, CSCO, IACI, FO, VIA, CBS, CMCSA, CMCSK, NWS

This week I composed a list of highly entrenched corporate leaders, and it is the first of a multi-part series.  Because of by-laws or because of multiple voting classes or just because certain CEO’s are that valuable, there are certain corporate insiders entrenched inside companies for literally as long as they want to be. Some don’t even have a majority of the shares, but they are the face of a company and the company might look entirely different without them. 

When investors make decisions they are usually betting on a strong horse, but there are many companies where an investment is much more on the jockey than it is on the horse. This is no call for an ouster by any means, and most of these companies could suffer serious setbacks if the leader left the company. There is no higher or lower ranking by the order here at all, and the full articles can be accessed by clicking on the names.

Norman Wesley, Chairman & CEO of Fortune Brands (FO)
Fortune Brands has seen a range-bound stock over the last year, but their corporate figurehead is a huge plus for the company.

Michael Dell, Chairman of Dell Inc. (DELL)
No shareholder would want to see him leave. Period.

John Chambers, Chairman & CEO of Cisco Systems (CSCO)
So what if he says "caysh-flow," he has proved critics wrong. Even after the tech bubble burst in 2000 the stock drop was never blamed on him. He has orchestrated more future technology acquisitions than "secret government agencies." He’s there as long as he wants to be.

Barry Diller, Chairman & CEO of IAC/Interactive (IACI)
Many complained about the massive pay package last year, but investors have done well and he acts 20 years younger than his age when it comes to energy in being a dealmaker.

Rupert Murdoch, Chairman & CEO of News Corp. (NWS)
Could someone imagine what News Corp. would look like if Murdoch announced it was time to open up the company?

Brian Roberts, Chairman & CEO of Comcast (CMCSA)
As it has been one of the best performing media stocks out there in 2006, it would be hard to imagine who would even challenge him.

Sumner Redstone, Chairman of Viacom (VIA) and CBS Corp. (CBS)
He has been pulling out the chainsaw over key employees not doing deals, even though the resources may not be available. Some have said he is hard to work for, but trying to get an immediate replacement and trying to absorb all the shares he owns in trust would probably just let the other media companies swarm in as vultures.

There is also a brief background post ahead of this as well, because the articles would be too long to include a pre-set guideline on each one.

Jon C. Ogg
January 20, 2007