Trashing CEO Tomcats

摘要

The first thing one notices about Christopher Byron's new book is, of course, the cover. There's Jack Welch with a demented grin, a lipstick kiss on his forehead, and a cigar-chomping blonde perched on his head. Joining him on this modern-day Mount Rushmore is Dennis L. Kozlowski, Al Dunlap, and Ron Perelman. But is it fair to include a man who's still seen as one of the top CEOs in history in a group that also includes an alleged crook, a blustering has-been who sucked the life out of companies, and a billionaire who's better known for his glamorous wives than for his business acumen? Yes, Byron would say, since all these "celebrity CEOs" have proven excessively prone to vanity, greed, and sexual indulgence. The case against Welch rests on Byron's plentiful, if often anonymously sourced, evidence of lustful, bad behavior toward women. Of course, this is a writer who loves to snag the biggest fish he can find and serve them up as unfamiliar and sometimes unappealing entrees. This time, the result is the cheeky, mesmerizing, and sometimes out-of-bounds Testosterone Inc.: Tales of CEOs Gone Wild.