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Texas Instruments CEO Brian Crutcher resigns for violating code of conduct
- astura 8y agoThere is very little information given, to save a click through: The CEO was (presumably forced to) resign for violation of the company's personal code of conduct policies but it's not being released what the violation was. >Texas Instruments said Tuesday that CEO Brian Crutcher resigned for violating the company's code of conduct related to personal behavior... TI did not specify exactly what Crutcher did that violated company policies. He had been at the company for more than two decades before assuming the role of CEO.
- raphman 8y agoGiven that the press release does not contain any "We thank Mr. Crutcher for ...", it seems plausible to assume that the resignation was not his idea.
- pitaa 8y agoI don't remember where I first heard it, but I've always remembered the adage that if someone personally announces their resignation, it was likely their idea. If the company announces their resignation, they were likely forced out.
- Mononokay 8y agoI'm actually pretty enthusiastic about this; Templeton resided over the golden era of TI, and now he's back in the role of CEO.
- mpd 8y agoInteresting that they don't intend his tenure to be temporary.
- wavefunction 8y agoPresumably the board hopes he identifies/designates the successor to pursue a new golden age for TI.
- guernicle 8y agoThe dream of a durable, programmable graphing calculator with a high-resolution AMOLED display with solid graphics processing, touch screen as pointing device, and hard QWERTY keyboard with no other major frills (no network interfaces, no android, no app stores or apps, thus facillitating a subversive, loyal ROM underground scene), for less than $50 USD may yet come true.
- TheRealPomax 8y agoCan we at least acknowledge that charging $150 for a calculator is no longer in line with "golden age" and more with "because we can"? In terms of their chips, TI is fantastic. But the part of them that every kid and student sees can do with a fixin' uppin'
- thaumasiotes 8y agoYou can get equivalent and superior calculating software for free. What do you want TI to fix up? The $150 you pay for a College Board certified calculator goes entirely towards the ability to use it on a College Board test without being considered a cheater. If you want to lower that cost, there's always the self-service approach -- produce $50 Android phones with calculator software preinstalled and the phone and wifi connectivity ripped out. Then get the College Board to certify your calculator. You can have TI's market share, if you can get the certification.
- stephengillie 8y agoTI Code of Conduct: http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/company/ti-code-of-conduct.pdf http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/company/ti-code-of-conduct.pdf - Signed in 2015 by then-CEO, president, and chairman, Rich Templeton. Rich had named Brian Crutcher as his CEO successor on June 1st, and today has permanently resumed CEO responsibilities. Their CEO isn't exempt from the ethics policy: Violations of the code may be punishable by reprimand or termination, and in some cases, are criminal offenses. No provision of this code may be waived for any director, officer or employee. Not seeing fraternization listed, only lawbreaking, bribery, export controls, conflict of interest, etc. From another article[0], Brian has only been CEO for 47 days, since June 1st. TI said that Crutcher resigned because of violations of the company’s code of conduct related to personal behavior “that are not consisent with our ethics and core values, but not related to company strategy, operations, and financial reporting.” [0] [0] https://dallasinnovates.com/rich-templeton-takes-command-again-at-texas-instruments/ https://dallasinnovates.com/rich-templeton-takes-command-aga...
- forapurpose 8y ago> Violations of the code may be punishable by reprimand or termination, and in some cases, are criminal offenses. No provision of this code may be waived for any director, officer or employee. That's helpful, but whoever created the code can change it.
- erikpukinskis 8y agoThat’s true, but changing it is different from being exempt from it. Changing it requires disclosure of the changes ahead of time.
- forapurpose 8y agoThe rulemakers can make any internal rules they want, including retroactive exemption. However, they are subject to external rules, including law and regulations, and I imagine that the current rules would give a lot of ammo to anyone who wanted to sue TI even if the rules were retroactively changed: The company might have a hard time convincing a judge that conduct that they thought was harmful in February is suddenly ok in May. > Changing it requires disclosure of the changes ahead of time Why must they disclose changes ahead of time? Why couldn't they say 10 minutes from now, 'the former policy is now void'?
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- bigtones 8y agoThis coming not even one month after the CEO of Intel, Brian Krzanich, resigned after violating that company's code of conduct by having an undisclosed relationship with an employee. Similar to Brian Crutcher at TI, he too had been at the company for more than 20 years and worked his way up to CEO. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/technology/intel-ceo-resigns-consensual-relationship.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/technology/intel-ceo-resi...
- RachelF 8y agoCEO of Intel, Brian Krzanich sold $24M of his Intel shares when he heard about Spectre, but before Intel made it public to stockholders. The Intel "inside" was Insider Trading.
- dcow 8y agoI was under the impression this was a "regular" scheduled sale and had been planed months before anyone knew anything about Spectre.
- williamscales 8y agoWhen execs sell stock it's done according to a schedule done in advance. In this case, after learning of these vulnerabilities he changed his plan to be that he would sell a huge chunk of shares in a month (but still well before the public knew). So technically complied and very hard to prove insider trading, but come on. As CEO he's required to hold a certain number of shares and he sold everything except what he was required to maintain.
- phil21 8y agoI'm not usually that guy asking for sources - but I was under the impression that was a lower level executive who did that, not the CEO. As far as I know the CEO has been cleared by the SEC? I spent 2 whole minutes googling, but all the articles for "Intel CEO insider trading" come up from January and are simple speculation. Since the Raj Rajaratnam verdict already came down[0], I'd assume by now the CEO would have been at least indicted. [0] https://www.mercurynews.com/2012/09/24/former-intel-exec-avoids-prison-in-insider-trading-scandal-after-testifying-against-friend/ https://www.mercurynews.com/2012/09/24/former-intel-exec-avo...
- hn_throwaway_99 8y agoWhy don't companies just say what the code of conduct violation is? Just leaving it nebulous like that means that of course people will speculate and pry, and the truth always eventually comes out. Is there some legal reason they aren't giving more details?
- vortico 8y agoWhy in your opinion should they release it?
- smueller1234 8y agoI'll give you one instead of grand parent: to protect the company. If you fire your CEO over an inappropriate relationship with an employee, the company may come out looking strong and principled. If you fire your CEO over fraud, your company will look dubious at best and you can see your stock tumble. An example of specifics provided for this EXACT reason: Priceline Group (more Bookings Holdings) being fired over a relationship in 2016. The stock didn't budge.
- smueller1234 8y agoNB: To be clear, Booking Holdings actually IS really principled about holding execs accountable to the code of conduct. It's something that I always appreciated a great deal when I worked there.
- ams6110 8y agoCompanies often refuse to discuss details of an employee's departure. It may also be that he agreed to resign in lieu of been fired, in exchange for a confidentially agreement.
- bkor 8y ago> Why don't companies just say what the code of conduct violation is? Privacy? Maybe the CEO is an exception, but why would they? They made clear what it is not about. Say it's something that a few people might despise, why make this public. You only damage the person further. Making something like this public about employees (not sure if there's an exception above some level) within Netherlands (GDPR and the law that came before it). And making public is wide; it includes an internal email. Source: HR explained a few things about GDPR and how it does some things were in place (and required) for quite some time.
- crazy_monkey 8y agoCool, they can trade with Intel!
- sureaboutthis 8y agoAttempting to regulate human behavior has gotten morbidly beyond ridiculous as we see companies shoot themselves in the foot based on these so-called codes of conduct. Based on all this, and the quote at the end of the article, I fully expect Warren Buffet to submit his resignation due to his support. In the grown up world, we would take someone aside and say, "Hey, don't do that."
- rsynnott 8y agoWe have no idea what he did, of course, but generally these firings aren't for minor issues. If anything, companies tend to be a bit too willing to overlook the rules for C-level employees. A company can reasonably expect their CEO to behave themselves; if not, firing them is reasonable.
- Angostura 8y agoCan you give an example of a morbidly-beyond-ridiculous firing?
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- bitL 8y agoGame of Thrones, Texas Instruments Edition. It's getting ridiculous lately...