Why Did Du Pont's Charles Holliday Join BofA's Board?

Bank of America (BAC) announced the appointment of Charles Holliday, Chairman of Du Pont (DD), to Bank of America’s board. Sounds like Bank of America got a good man at a difficult time. What’s in it for Charles Holliday? Bank of America is in danger of being declared a criminal organization. The SEC cannot get judges to bless agreements and are required to go to trial with proper rules of evidence. There will be much to do for new board members. Much of it will be messy legal issues and not strategic business issues that you would expect a board to deal with.

When you finish being confused about Charles Holliday’s rationale, start thinking about why Du Pont would be OK with this. The amount of time he will spend away from Du Pont business without any tangible benefit to Du Pont will be enormous.

Comments

[emfy:]

You must be joking if you believe Chad is an asset to the DuPont organization. He is not a strategic/great thinker but, instead, rose to the top as a politically savvy charmer. Full of sound and fury, signifying very little...

Sep 22 11:52 AM

[CirrusFlier:]

Are you kidding? You must not know Charles very well. It is a miracle he made CEO to begin with (although anyone who knows Dupont knows how under- and often mis-managed it is). Putting him on the board of Bank of America is like giving a baby a hammer in a room full of glass.

Sep 22 03:32 PM

[antidisestab:]

Don't people usually go on boards of other companies when they are ready to retire?

Sep 22 08:28 PM

[funfun:]

To think that DuPont's bumbling über boss, Chad Holliday can bring "credibility" to this fraud-infested bank with its serial scandals is laughable. In recent years, DuPont has pleaded guilty to criminal price-fixing in its global elastomers venture, been caught by the FDA illegally misrepresenting its medical products, deceitfully covered up its toxic Teflon chemical pollution and studies, been adjudged covertly contaminating an entire West Virginia town with toxic chemcals for decades and then LYING ABOUT IT, waged a war of "dirty tricks" bankrolling secret front organisations to smear and defame a superior-performing competitor, Monsanto, undsoweiter.
The Chairman of the disreputable DuPont adds nothing to BAC, in the opinion of the undersigned investor...funfun..

Sep 23 11:13 PM

[funfun:]

The "leaders" of BAC just don't get it. Milliions of Americans and investors are unarguably repulsed by the spectacle of massive bonuses paid to inept corporate and bank CEOs in return for mediocre performance or worse. DuPont Chairman Chad Holliday is a master of grabbing outsized bonuses for himself and his circa 100 bobble-heading DuPont Vice Presidents in return for sub-performances and destroying shareholder value. Is that the kind of "expertise" for which the bank is looking, given BAC is embroiled in a sordid scandal over executive bonuses? ...funfun..

Sep 24 07:48 AM