ASPEN, Colo. (CNN/Money) -
U.S. CEOs are sick and tired of being picked on. Should we feel sorry for them?
The short answer: Of course not. But it's certainly interesting to hear their gripes, which were on full display here Wednesday at Fortune's Brainstorm 2003 conference at the Aspen Institute.
For most of us, it's difficult to work up a whole lot of sympathy for CEOs, who've arguably joined journalists and lawyers as among the least liked class of professionals in America.
CEOs have been vilified basically for making so much money for themselves while the companies they run have lost so much money for shareholders. Bob Monks, founder of Institutional Shareholder Services, says $1 trillion worth of wealth was shifted to top executives of U.S. companies during the 1990s.
And they're on the defensive. When Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Rakesh Khurana scolded a panel of CEOs, based on his research, for the sins Monks revealed, he was nearly shouted down by Leonard Lauder, chairman of the cosmetics giant Estee Lauder Cos.
"You've never run a company," Lauder told Khurana. As Khurana didn't protest, Lauder's accusation likely is accurate; But it also doesn't negate the research Khurana has done to back up his point.
What's really got CEOs worked up, however, other than being called nasty names, are the reforms Congress passed a year ago in an attempt to prevent future Enrons. Over and over CEOs groused about how much the Sarbanes-Oxley laws annoy them and make it more difficult to do business. Board meetings, in particular, have ground to a halt, to hear them tell it.
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"By the time we get to the strategy area, (the board members) are exhausted," says Ted Waitt, former and current CEO of Gateway. "And we need serious strategic decisions right now."
Barry Sternlicht, CEO of hotelier Starwood Hotels, says board members -- especially those without business backgrounds -- have become so cautious that the lowest common denominator governs important decisions.
Adds Carol Bartz, CEO of software vendor Autodesk, "We're so overburdened with all the bullshit in the system."
Put it in perspective
It probably takes an ex-CEO to put the matter into perspective. Roger Enrico, former CEO of PepsiCo, says, "I happen to think the regulations are pretty good." The pendulum has swung perhaps a bit too far, Enrico adds, but it'll swing back again as a matter of course. And correctives were needed.
CEOs are loath to complain publicly about their plight. They know in their hearts they've got it pretty good: Compensation many multiples that of average Joes, interesting travel, stimulating business environments. But when they're amongst themselves, they complain loudly and hint that perhaps all the hassle isn't worth it.
Don't bet your last nickels that they'll give it all up, though. Starwood's Sternlicht gets it better than most, suggesting that perhaps more public companies should go private.
And there's the rub. As long as CEOs run public companies -- meaning they are stewards of the public's money -- they'll have to put up with the pesky public.
What's more, new regulations have a way of working themselves into tolerable situations. As Schwab CEO David Pottruck said, "Boards are finding their rhythms."
So toughen up guys and gals. And remember, dealing with these kinds of problems, among other reasons, is why you're paid the big bucks.
Adam Lashinsky is a senior writer for Fortune magazine. Send e-mail to Adam at lashinskysbottomline@yahoo.com.
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