Memo to the CEO: Office romance is also the board’s business
Senior executives should disclose workplace relationships
Add BT as a preferred source
NESTLE’S dismissal last week of its chief executive officer Laurent Freixe for failing to disclose a romantic relationship fits an all-too-familiar pattern.
It follows the ousting of Bernard Looney on similar grounds at BP in 2023, the resignation of NBC’s Jeff Zucker in 2022, McDonald’s sacking of Steve Easterbrook in 2019, and so on, back to Harry Stonecipher, who stepped down at Boeing in 2005. All had failed to reveal relationships with colleagues.
The problem of how, or even whether, to regulate a natural human instinct persists. The evidence suggests codes of conduct are not working. Is there a better way?
TRENDING NOW
‘I felt like dying’: Thai Singha beer scion speaks up after disclosure of alleged sexual abuse
Private equity giant Carlyle can grow bigger but needs to stay on its toes: co-founder David Rubenstein
Battle for Asia’s ultra-rich: ‘Singapore can’t afford to keep losing clients to Dubai, Hong Kong’
AI-linked layoffs in US spark new wave of one-person start-ups
