'SamAdams' pid='21697' datel Wrote:At least the timing of Phil's retirement still confounds me...........
I agree with this Sam and this is my take on the situation. First the reasons why I think Phil is leaving:
- Phil wants to be King and call the shots. I think it became clear some time late last year that he couldn't be King.
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Phil has negotiated very hard on this deal. He tried to keep modular and floater in the form of EWC and Flex and then he tried to keep operator control. The side effect, depending upon how intense these meetings were, is frayed relationships on both sides. Phil may have said I am not working with that idiot - aka a RDS for example.
- These hard negotiations I view as healthy btw - I have been in negotiations where the owner didn't fight tooth and nail and was screwed over because of it.
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For those who say Phil was the problem, I believe it is because their information is coming from one of the bidders and any bidder worth 2 cents will ramp up the propaganda/slander as it could provide an edge in negotiations. Therefore I don't believe Phil was the problem, just a part of a normal business process for billions of dollars.
- And actually, I think Phil probably was the best person to conduct this effort as he would be squeezing every drop out of that lemon.
- I believe IOC is transitioning into a new phase of existence where execution is the most important characteristic. I think the board (and Phil) and large shareholders realize that Phil's risk taking, I got kahuna sized biscuits was exactly what we needed to get us where we are today, however going forward we need a CEO who is extreme on detail and delivery. A natural healthy progression for the company.
So with those three reasons in place, why would the timing come when it did? Well we know that the board met during the weekend of April 20-21st. Presumably to choose a winning bidder. At this point, I think there was still a small chance that one of the bidders was someone who Phil could work with/allowed greater control of the process/insert other reason here. After the board met it became very clear this wasn't the case, so Phil capitulated and announced his retirement.
As for why this was only a 7 day notice and not announced with the winning bidder, this is what I believe. All my above reasons for Phil retiring would become obvious late last year and that is why I believe it when they say they have already started a new CEO search and personally I believe this process is almost complete. Now any new CEO coming on board always get some form of stock or stock options. So, if I was a savvy VP from a super major that is being asked to take over the CEO position, I would accept the position based on one condition - I am brought on board before the deal is announced so I can get all those stock options in my name before the inevitable run in share price.