Wachovia board forces out CEO
Less than a month after losing his chairman post, and more than two years after an ill-timed acquisition of California mortgage lender Golden West Financial Corp., Wachovia Corp. said Monday that board members have forced CEO Ken Thompson to retire from the nation’s fourth-largest bank.
The board of the Charlotte-based bank said it asked Thompson to leave a few days ago and acted Sunday to replace him on an interim basis with Chairman Lanty Smith. Smith replaced Thompson as chairman last month in a move the bank said “strengthens independent leadership.”
But several analysts on Monday questioned whether Thompson’s ouster means more problems at Wachovia, a bank that has weathered a series of setbacks, including mounting losses and federal investigations, in recent months. They also speculated that Wachovia could be a takeover candidate, though the bank said Monday that it plans to remain independent.
The high-priced deal gave Wachovia a means to expand aggressively into the booming home-lending business while adding hundreds of branches on the West Coast. It also exposed the bank to collapsed housing markets and has led to billions in loan losses that continue to build.
•FedEx said Monday it plans to stop using the Kinko’s name on its copy and office service stores and book an $891 million charge for the quarter that ended Saturday.
The charge relates to a decision about the use of the Kinko’s name and a write-down of the value of its acquisition of the brand. The charge, which works out to $2.22 a share, was not part of FedEx’s earnings forecast. The company reports its financial results for the fiscal fourth quarter June 18.
FedEx Corp. said it will change the name of its FedEx Kinko’s stores to FedEx Office over the next several years.
American Airlines, which has added flights to India and China in recent years, was set Monday to launch service from the United States to Moscow, opening a new front in its competition with Delta Air Lines Inc.
The move comes as American and other carriers cut U.S. flights in the face of fuel prices that have nearly doubled in the past year.
American, the largest U.S. carrier, sees in Moscow the chance to benefit indirectly from high oil prices – the energy-price spiral has spurred economic growth in Russia and raised the spending power of Russians.
American will offer one flight six days a week each way between Chicago and Moscow. No other U.S. carriers fly directly between the two countries.