Sallie Mae's Albert Lord: The Deathwatch Begins

How did Albert Lord become CEO of Sallie Mae (SLM)? He hardly showered himself in glory during the whole debacle with Chris Flowers, during which time he was so busy refusing to negotiate on the sale price that (a) the entire deal fell through, and (b) SLM's own profits imploded.

But become CEO he did. His first act as CEO was to sell 97% of his SLM shares; his second act was to start acting up on his first quarterly conference call with analysts. His final words on that call? "There are no more questions, let's get the fuck out of here." (see full conference call transcript)

What's the record for shortest-lived CEO tenure? Does anybody want to quote an over/under on Lord's defenestration?

Comments

[jswede:]

eerily similar to the Skilling comment before Enron went down....

2007 Dec 20 10:30 AM

[User 132019:]

That is just priceless. Al has never been known to be very professional in the past so why should anyone expect him to start know. It was a good chuckle...thanks Al! Nice knowing ya!

2007 Dec 20 11:07 AM

[funboy3:]

Down with the ship while singing.......

2007 Dec 20 11:20 AM

[user225084-...:]

Wow, that is just off the chart rude and idiotic.

2007 Dec 20 08:26 PM

[funboy3:]

Wait until you see what they do next. Really. It's not going to be pretty.

2007 Dec 20 10:58 PM

[Cheryl Cott...:]

And that's why you don't commit fraud.

2007 Dec 21 02:07 AM

[Cheryl Cott...:]

And that's why you don't lie to investors.

2007 Dec 21 02:08 AM

[Cheryl Cott...:]

And that's why you don't exploit students.

2007 Dec 21 02:08 AM