Celebrity CEO Series

Like the most wanted posters that used to adorn the local post offices across the country, the pictures of once heralded CEOs gracing the cover of countless business magazines such as Business Week, Forbes and Time seems a fitting epitaph to a bygone era when vapor and the promise of riches trumped sound business principles and tangible revenues.

With the one female exception, the list reads like a who’s who of patriarchal has beens and never really weres, whose greatest asset was their timing and gumption more than their acumen.

Now 10 years after the dot com implosion (and just over 9 since the article was written), I could not help but contemplate the age old question of where are they now in relation to the faint reminiscences of a memorable time gone awry.  Names such as Michael Cowpland, Shawn Fanning, John Roth and John Little, who once garnered headlines like The Billionaire Next Door or Macho Macchio, have now been reduced to little more than a remember who trivia contest question.

The above paragraphs are an excerpt from the introduction to my 12-Part “Where Are They Now? What Happened To Yesteryear’s Celebrity CEOs” Series, in which I will focus my attention and research on those iconic and in some cases iconoclastic executive heavyweights who, after occupying the lofty heights of global recognition and universal adoration, are long removed from the spotlight.

Besides the names already referenced, this reflective journey will also include David Walsh, Jean Monty, Paul Walters, Charles Sirois, Steve Case and Gerald Levin, Jeffrey Skilling and last but not least Martha Stewart.

Posts In The Series:

October 21st, 2011 –  CELEBRITY CEO SERIES: DAVID WALSH – BUILDING THE UBIQUITOUS BRE-X BRAND

October 12th, 2011 – CELEBRITY CEO SERIES: THE “BEEN THERE, DONE THAT” TRADITION OF CASE (AND LEVIN) CONTINUES WITH AOL TODAY!

October 11th, 2011 –  CELEBRITY CEO SERIES: PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY – JOHN ROTH’S SHINOLA FACTOR

October 5th, 2011 – CELEBRITY CEO SERIES: MICHAEL COWPLAND WHERE ARE YOU?

October 3rd, 2011 – 2002 ARTICLE HERALDING THE “END OF THE AFFAIR FOR CELEBRITY CEOS” A TELLING TALE OF WHAT WAS MOST TROUBLING WITH THE DOT COM CRAZE: BUT WHERE ARE THESE INTREPID “PROFITS OF PROSPERITY” NOW?

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