The Best and Worst CEOs of 2018

GE share price rose more than 7% after John Flannery was removed as CEO in October. Before he was ousted, company shares were their lowest point in nine years. Reportedly, Flannery was ousted because he did not facilitate GE’s turnaround quickly enough, though Jim Cramer speculated that it had more to do with Flannery’s failure to anticipate the high costs of running the company’s energy and insurance businesses.

GE’s board did act quickly, though. Flannery was ousted after just 14 months at the helm. Additionally, he may leave with far less compensation than many CEOs get on their way out, as GE’s board has considerable flexibility in determining severance.

Carlos Ghosn, CEO of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, one of the largest automotive groups in the world, is currently sitting in a Tokyo jail cell. Ghosn made a name for himself in the 1990s by bringing Japanese automaker Nissan back from the brink of bankruptcy. Though he has not been officially charged, he is being held as a flight risk under suspicion that he underreported his income by tens of millions for dollars over the years since 2010. Though Ghosn denies any wrongdoing, his has been removed from his position as chairman of Nissan.

After buying Sears in 2005, many saw Eddie Lampert as the department store chain’s savior. But by now it is apparent Sears is likely a dying brand, having filed for bankruptcy in October. In an attempt to save Sears, Lampert and his own hedge fund made loans to the company. Though Lampert and his company are the owner of much of Sears’ debt and assets, they could benefit from the company’s collapse as much of the debt is backed by hard assets. And though Lampert is also the company’s largest shareholder, he has also bought over the years much of its valuable stores and real estate. Critics have called Lampert’s strategy with Sears a “slow-motion liquidation,” stripping the company’s assets and laying off tens of thousands of workers. Even if Lampert remains financially secure, his name will forever be associated with the death of a well-known brand.

Les Moonves served as chairman and CEO of CBS Corporation from April 2003 to September 2018, when he resigned amidst allegations of sexual misconduct. The allegations, which include accusations from multiple women going as far back as the 1980s and descriptions of abuse from CBS employees, first came to light in a New Yorker profile in July 2018. While Moonves denies the claims, text message correspondences between him and a Hollywood talent manager detailing attempts to find acting work for one of his accusers were reviewed and published in summary by the New York Times in November 2018. The text evidence may threaten Moonves’ $120 million exit package from CBS, which, according to his contract, is voided if the ex-CEO tried to pay off an accuser with job offers.