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  • Discussion relating to the Canadian National, past and present. Also includes discussion of Illinois Central and Grand Trunk Western and other subsidiary roads (including Bessemer & Lake Erie and the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway). Official site: WWW.CN.CA
Discussion relating to the Canadian National, past and present. Also includes discussion of Illinois Central and Grand Trunk Western and other subsidiary roads (including Bessemer & Lake Erie and the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway). Official site: WWW.CN.CA

Moderators: Komachi, Ken V

 #1007174  by Gilbert B Norman
 
This development could prove "interesting":

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/ ... om-ackman/

Brief passage:

  • OTTAWA — The Canadian National Railway publicly cautioned its former chief executive, E. Hunter Harrison, on Friday against participating in the hedge fund manager William A. Ackman’s plan to put him in charge of running the Canadian Pacific Railway, saying that would violate his employment contract.

    Mr. Harrison is widely credited with turning Canadian National into one of North America’s most cost-efficient railways. But the directors of Canadian Pacific have rejected Mr. Ackman’s proposal to have him lead a similar transformation at that railroad, which lags behind Canadian National in efficiency.

    Earlier this week, Mr. Ackman, whose firm, Pershing Square Capital Management, is the largest shareholder in Canadian Pacific, said he was planning a proxy battle to replace the company’s board in order to make Mr. Harrison the railroad’s chief executive.
Sure looks to me like a conflict of interest. Didn't everyone, be they shippers, employees, or safety regulators, love this fellow?
 #1023762  by Tadman
 
I wonder if it was a specifically mentioned prohibition against working for CPR or if the contract just said "no more railroad leadership"? On one hand non-competes are easy to get around, on the other hand, that's because you can usually demonstrate that it prevents the employee from earning. Nobody is going to give that kind of sympathy to Harrison, who has plenty of earnings in the bank.

I bet the CN stockholders loved him. He shaped up that railroad. I think part of the bad rap he got was because he turned around a government ward, not a stagnating private company. There's a big culture difference there. It's like turning around the Post Office versus GM. GM needed a lot of help, but the post office is magnitudes worse. If you've ever lived in Chicago, you know what I mean.