The book Money for Nothing can be summed up in one sentence: The boards running corporations in America today are ineffective. But while that sentence may be accurate, it is not news to corporate compliance and governance officers, so those of you looking for a more substantive analysis or solutions to the governance problems you face might want to read elsewhere.
That’s not to say Money for Nothing (Free Press, January 2010, 320 pps., $27) is uninformative or a dull read. On the contrary, for the non-corporate audience—and that’s most of the people in this country—it is a powerful, alarming look at the sorry state of boardrooms. It strings together one wincing picture of ineptitude after another, and demolishes any impression the lay person might have that board directors are intelligent counterweights to CEOs. The authors, John Gillespie and David Zweig, have deep experience either participating in Corporate America or watching it; Gillespie spent nearly 20 years as an investment banker or CFO, and Zweig was a writer at Time Inc. and Dow Jones before founding Salon.com. They know their stuff and have compiled an authoritative, if depressing, review of boardroom culture. I just fear that most Compliance Week readers already know that stuff, too.
