Xerox Chief Anne Mulcahy, a Critic of Short-term Thinking on Wall Street, Plans Retirement
Anne M. Mulcahy, whose plans for retirement as chief executive of Xerox were announced today, was a vocal critic of Wall Street's myopic focus on quarterly results. In a 2005 interview, she told Knowledge at Wharton that short-term thinking was "a huge problem" that may be hurting public companies in the long run. "It's one of the most dysfunctional things going on in the marketplace today." A separate Knowledge at Wharton article noted that Mulcahy was certainly not the first corporate chief to complain about Wall Street's shortsightedness. Her comments resonated, the article said, because in turning around the famed copier maker, she endured a level of pressure that few corporate bosses ever face. Xerox flirted with bankruptcy and was advised to seek court protection from creditors, and it probably would have but for Mulcahy's adamant opposition. More coverage of today's announcement can be found in The New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
