Blackout?
With help from governance specialists Glass, Lewis & Co., we've picked Calpine's Peter Cartwright as a CEO in need of a recharge.
Calpine
CEO: Peter Cartwright
Tenure: 20 years
Five-Year Record
Total Shareholder Return*: -82.0%
Peer Index Return*: 33.0%
S&P 500 Index Return*: -15.3%
Total CEO Pay*: $67.1 million
Under founder Cartwright, Calpine thrived as an independent power producer until it fell under the Field of Dreams spell. Build, build, build — but they didn't come. Since then, it's been retrenchment, refinancing — and re-disappointing. Add in Cartwright's option-choked pay program — not to mention a board that includes a paid consultant and that has ignored two shareholder-backed governance proposals — and you've got a company where "power glut" has more than one meaning.
*Data from Glass, Lewis & Co. and FactSet Research Systems for five years ending February 2005
A version of this article appeared in the April 2005 issue of Fast Company magazine.
