When a CEO dogged by accusations of arrogance, poor performance, and excessive pay finally gets shoved out the door, and the board still gets grief for ousting him—well, then you know you have a problem.
Such is the tale at Home Depot, which finally fired Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli on Jan. 3 after nearly a year of simmering shareholder wrath. Nardelli’s tenure included six years of a sagging stock price while competitors leaped ahead, and a 2006 annual meeting where he ordered directors to stay away and did not take questions from shareholders.
