Or we can do it this way. Ronnie Chan sits on the Enron and Motorola boards. He shares a Motorola membership with H. Laurance Fuller who also sits on the JP Morgan Chase board. Lawrence Bossidy also sits on Morgan’s board as well as the Merck board. William Bowen sits on the Merck board and the American Express board with Vernon Jordan. Five moves.
Or we can go this way. Norman Blake, Jr. on the boards of both Enron and Owens-Corning Fiberglass. Ann Reynolds on boards of Owens-Corning and Dana. Jospeh Magliochetti on boards of Dana and BellSouth. Leo Mullin on BellSouth and Johnson & Johnson. Ralph Larsen on J&J and Xerox. Jordon on Xerox board. Five moves again.
Management frequently escapes board scrutiny because boards are made up of executives of other companies that want to escape scrutiny (kind of like the Golden Rule-Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You) as well as professional board members that make a nice living being on boards.
When Enron’s board claimed ignorance of management’s actions, I believe them. The Board did exactly what the company paid them to do: look the other way.
We Owe it to the Company to Keep Working
Get off the ferry in Jersey City. The guys from Tucker are trying to find 15 Exchange Place, the office of Tucker in Jersey City. We find it but the building is closed, like all of the buildings adjacent to the river in Jersey City. Anybody attempting to enter the area close to the river is stopped by the police. But frankly, it is laughable, because if someone really wanted in they could get in.
The police are directing us to one of two bus lines. The first goes to Hoboken. The second goes to Newark Penn Station. The police keep repeating over a bullhorn: There is nothing going into New York City.
I get a hold of Nora on the cell phone. I’m safe and in Jersey City. She tells me I should contact Morgan, who has called. She tells me my Mom has called. So has Mary. I call my Mom, she is on the phone with Mary and Liz. “I’m safe Mom, and in Jersey City.”
I need to use a restroom. I find a nursing home nearby. They let me use the bathroom. I shake the dust from my clothes, rinse my hair, and eyes and face. I take my shirt off and try to shake the dust off. They ask to copy ID before I leave. Anyone could be a terrorist, right?
I stand in line for the bus to Newark. I figure I’ll go to Morgan’s. I check messages. One from Nora, her message says I should leave the office since it appears the attack was intentional, one from Mary, one from Manny, my 11:00 appointment. I’ll miss that one. One from Greg. Says he called me earlier and I picked up, but we were disconnected.
I finally notice what a beautiful day it is. Rick calls. I tell him I’m safe and in Jersey City. He says Fred is safe. Neither of us know if John or Meg are safe. The bus takes at least 30 minutes to arrive. The ride to Penn Station is another hour. Traffic is slower than walking, literally. Three men standing in the aisle are talking about the day. One of them says his boss said they owed it to the company to get to New Jersey and keep working.
Please Don’t Pay Me this Year