The high-wire act of Bristol-Myers Squibb CEO Peter Dolan has ended in a swift fall. Dolan was ousted today as the company's board met to consider a recommendation from a federal monitor that he be fired. General counsel Richard Willward also got the axe. Several news organizations reported early today that former federal judge Frederick Lacey urged the board to fire Dolan and the company's chief counsel at a special session last night. Lacey was appointed as a monitor after the company agreed to deferred-adjudication in a case of "channel stuffing," in which the company sold large quantities of therapeutics to wholesalers in order to make its quarterly numbers. In that case, Bristol-Myers agreed to stay out of trouble for two years. But Lacey has concluded that Dolan's bungled attempt to delay a generic version of Plavix broke the terms of its settlement and ended any chance of his rehabilitation. Investors may well be happy to see Dolan go after a period of intense turmoil. Director James Cornelius now takes over as interim CEO and company secretary Sandra Leung is interim general counsel.
- read the article from The Times Online