How did Albert Lord become CEO of Sallie Mae? 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.”
What’s the record for shortest-lived CEO tenure? Does anybody want to quote an over/under on Lord’s defenestration?