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Sears Chief Wins Worst CEO Award

Lampert beats out crowded field of execs: MarketWatch columnist

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 6, 2007 12:51 PM CST
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(Newser) – There were lots of rotten CEOs this year, writes MarketWatch’s Herb Greenberg, but the man who stood above (below?) the pack was Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert. Lampert is revered for his brilliant trading at ESL Investments, but he’s a bad retail boss, espousing a profit-over-sales ethos that’s failing miserably. Same-store sales and margins are going the wrong way for Sears.

But though retailing’s “magic sauce” has eluded him, Lampert wasn’t the runaway winner for Greenberg. Many would-be shoo-ins—like Citigroup’s Chuck Prince or Motorola’s Ed Zander—are now out of work. Financials were so crammed with subprime blunderers it was impossible to single out one exec. Mesa Air’s Jonathan Ornstein also came close, coupling financial underperformance with pilot attrition and legal problems.

Snowblowers are lined up in front of the Sears store in Berlin, Vt., Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007. Sears Holdings Corp. reported a 99 percent drop in third-quarter profit Thursday on weak sales at its Sears and Kmart department stores and continuing investment losses under hedge-fund manager Chairman Eddie Lampert. (AP...
Snowblowers are lined up in front of the Sears store in Berlin, Vt., Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007. Sears Holdings Corp. reported a 99 percent drop in third-quarter profit Thursday on weak sales at its Sears...   (Associated Press)
In this file photo provided by Sears Holdings Corp., Chairman Edward Lampert speaks during a board meeting March 24, 2005, in Hoffman Estates, Ill., announcing the approval of the Kmart-Sears merger. (AP Photo/Sears Holdings Corp., File)
In this file photo provided by Sears Holdings Corp., Chairman Edward Lampert speaks during a board meeting March 24, 2005, in Hoffman Estates, Ill., announcing the approval of the Kmart-Sears merger....   (Associated Press)
A customer leaves a Sears store in Collegeville, Pa., in this Nov. 14, 2006 file photo. Sears Holdings Corp. reported a 99 percent drop in third-quarter profit Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007 on weak sales at its Sears and Kmart department stores and continuing investment losses under hedge-fund manager Chairman Eddie...
A customer leaves a Sears store in Collegeville, Pa., in this Nov. 14, 2006 file photo. Sears Holdings Corp. reported a 99 percent drop in third-quarter profit Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007 on weak sales at...   (Associated Press)
Banners hang on a Sears store in downtown Chicago in this April 4, 2007 file photo. Sears Holdings Corp. reported a 99 percent drop in third-quarter profit Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007 on weak sales at its Sears and Kmart department stores and continuing investment losses under hedge-fund manager Chairman Eddie...
Banners hang on a Sears store in downtown Chicago in this April 4, 2007 file photo. Sears Holdings Corp. reported a 99 percent drop in third-quarter profit Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007 on weak sales at its...   (Associated Press)
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Ed Zander • Mesa Airlines • Sears • Sears Holdings • Eddie Lampert • Chuck Prince • Jonathan Ornstein

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