Apple's Board Continues To Get Bad Press From BusinessWeek Rating

A ppleis rating by BusinessWeek continues to garner negative attention for the company in the mainstream press. Reuters published a story today about Jerome York, the CEO of Micro Warehouse, being tapped for scandal ridden Tycois board of directors.

Mr. York sits on Appleis board, as well as Appleis compensation committee, an arrangement that was included in BusinessWeekis ranking of Appleis board as being among the worst eight in corporate America. The conflict, according to BusinessWeek stems from the fact that Mr. Yorkis company, Micro Warehouse, accounts for some 3% Appleis sales.

The Reuters piece, which is ostensibly about potential conflicts between Mr. York and Tycois board, often cites Appleis ranking in that report from BusinessWeek. This is interspersed with affirmations about Mr. Yorkis integrity and strong ethics. From the piece:

No one has questioned the former IBM and Chrysler executiveis ability to serve independently and without conflicts on Tycois board. In fact, one of Tycois largest investors would like York to chair the audit committee.

"The guy has impeccable ethics and impeccable integrity, plus heis brilliant," said Ralph Whitworth, whose Relational Investors owns several million Tyco shares. "Jerry York can be one hell of a pain in the butt if he needs to be," said Whitworth, a leading shareholder activist.

York sits on Appleis compensation committee, even though his firm, Micro Warehouse Inc., accounted for nearly 3 percent of the computer makeris sales last year. While York was on Appleis board, Apple CEO Steve Jobs received a $90 million Gulfstream jet for the two-and-a-half years he served without pay.

"It was the old boys network at its worst," said James Voye, a pension fund representative for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which has questioned the independence of Appleis compensation committee.

The corporate governance practices at Apple appear to run counter to what Tyco is trying to instill as Chief Executive Edward Breen works to restore credibility.

The quote from James Voye was originally included in the BusinessWeek article. You can find more in the full article at Yahoo!is Web site.

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