Many have commented on John V lack of vision and strategy. His educational background is rather weak and he lacks any advanced degree. It’s not unprecedented, but disconcerting for someone to be selected ceo of Xerox. Ultimately, he’s just a talking head for Icahn. Apparently not much is required to do what Icahn wants him to do. He simply has to cut cut cut and get it ready for sale.
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Anne didn't have much choice in selecting Ursula. The board was pushing for Ursula to replace Anne.
I give him 6 more months
From what I can see John V is not there to make anyone happy except Icahn. So it’s not like he needs to be expert in everything. Where the stock price is, I guess he has a ways to go until his boss is happy.
You don't have to be book smart to be successful, you can be street smart and can be more successful than many highly educated professionals.
Hmmmm - The Canadian educated Xerox CEOs are apparently a thing.
History lesson addendum (nice effort) Anne Mulcahy selected Ursula Burns as her successor. Also, Anne barely made it through one of the largest accounting scandals in the history of American business. Anne was the most relatable CEO, but selected Ursula (tied for the worst Xerox CEO with Rick Thoman, IMO). Ursula?..That cemented Anne’s legacy, as nice as Anne was. Anne really did rally the company as CEO...no doubt. I had no major issues with Paul Allaire. Jeff Jacobson did NOT inherit a rose garden from Ursula. I still don’t understand all the anger towards him. Ursula was already moving to channels and Jeff was not in a position to change the massive internal liquidation. Perhaps others know more about Jeff than I.
CEO/Higher Education History Lesson:
Jeff Jacobson attained a masters from Cornell in Industrial Relations...and he was fired twice. Once by the board, and a second time by Icahn. Easily the worst CEO in the last 30 years (which is saying something)
Ursula Burns attained a masters in Science (engineer) from Columbia University, but that sure didn't keep her from putting Xerox into a nose dive. (I'll put her at the 2nd worst CEO in this list)
Anne Mucahy went to Marymount College and started as a field sales rep in 1976. She never attained an advanced degree in Business.
Paul Allaire had a Masters in Science from Carnegie Mellon, but that didn't help him from being fired from Xerox (twice).
Only one of these esteemed CEO's (prior to John V) didn't attain an advanced degree from a well-known college, and she's the only one that was successful at bringing Xerox out of a tailspin and actually GREW revenue! So, I'll take the non-advanced degree. Thanks