Celebrity bosses, it is now widely agreed, are bad for business. Not so long ago, being run by a man like Jack Welch, Jeffrey Skilling or Bernie Ebbers boosted a firm's share price, as investors thrilled to their charismatic heroes' bold visions, promises of shareholder value and brave takeover bids. But now the idols are fallen. Is a new role model needed for the post-celebrity era? One candidate for the job―which might, admittedly, turn him into a celebrity and thus the title into a poisoned chalice―is Ray Gilmartin, boss of Merck, a big American drugs company. Brash charisma is not something you associate with Mr Gil-martin, who has run Merck since 1994. Rather, the impression he gives-apparently unaided by such erstwhile essentials as an executive coach or an image consultant+is of being honest, ear-nest, even ever so slightly dull, much like an accountant from the days when they really were accountants. Indeed, when criticisms of accounting trickery were levelled at Merck in the aftermath of scandals at Enron and WorldCom, Mr Gilmartin's rebuttals largely convinced Wall Street sceptics, and were later upheld by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
展开▼
