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“Today's Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNBC and Bloomberg Financial are filled with stories about highly paid executives who have driven their companies into bankruptcy, while Boards of Directors did little or nothing to stop them from obliterating shareholder value. But when was the last time you saw a lead story about the successful turnarounds at HP, AT&T, or any of a number of smaller public companies, including firms like Greenfield Online, my most recent turnaround? Collectively, these turnarounds have created many billions of dollars of new wealth for the shareholders, while also putting in place executives and Boards of Directors who create real value through knowledge, experience and hard work.”
That's how author Al Angrisani, who for more than 20 years has been rescuing companies that have strayed from good, solid business practices, begins his new book, Win One for the $hareholders. The author served in President Ronald Reagan’s administration as the United States Assistant Secretary of Labor and Chief of Staff, and is recognized as the architect of the Job Training and Partnership Act of 1983, which stands today as the nation's primary federal training program. Over the course of numerous turnaround engagements he has developed a comprehensive model for breathing life into suffering companies and restoring both the faith and wealth of shareholders.
As Angrisani points out, “Clearly, there's something seriously wrong with the way all-too-many companies have been doing business. The people in charge have forgotten that their premier responsibility is to their shareholders, that their first—and overriding—concern should be to safeguard the wealth of their shareholders.”
The author's model, built on a solid foundation of corporate responsibility, is one step toward weaving “good old-fashioned values like hard work and accountability” back into the fabric of American corporate life, he says.
Angrisani's approach is particularly timely given the recent growth of the shareholders' rights moment in the wake of questionable business practices that have led to billions of dollars in lost shareholder wealth.
“Angrisani’s model for turning around troubled businesses is incredibly timely, given the awful state of too many business enterprises in the current downturn,” notes Hank Boerner, CEO of the Governance & Accountability Institute, a knowledge center focused on institutional accountability. “Boards seem to have forgotten that they are the chief stewards of their enterprises. The board represents the ‘owners,’ as in the company’s shareowners. The Board also represents the interests, directly or indirectly, of a variety of important stakeholders, such as employees, business partners, customers, communities and more. It will be worthwhile for directors and corporate executives to consider this model as demands for greater accountability and responsibility by their shareholders intensify.”
The author takes Boerner's statements a step further, arguing, “The major consequence of the collapse of 2008, which is not being discussed in the media, is the loss of many investors, perhaps for a generation or more. We are on the verge of losing a generation of investors in the stock market.”
He goes on to point out that, at the start of the Great Depression, less than 10 percent of Americans were invested in the stock market. As the market reached historic highs in 2008, just before the collapse in October, just over 60 percent of Americans were invested in the market, taking into account institutional investors. Now these investors, attracted to the markets over the last 80 years, are abandoning the sinking ship of Wall Street
“The basic reason for the likely loss of those investors is the discrediting of several major principles that have governed US equity markets since the Great Depression, including the power and will of Boards of Directors to safeguard their interests. This issue cuts to the heart of the debate raging today around whether we will see a capitalist or socialist American economy in the future. And, as anyone who runs a company knows, lower markets mean less capital for corporate investment in growth and innovation, leading to slower economic growth for many years to come and the higher unemployment that comes with slow growth,” Angrisani says.
He proposes a five-point plan to renew investors' faith in the markets, thus providing a more solid foundation under our capitalist system:
-Do not raise capital gains taxes and lower them to 10% or below
- Create a federal clearing house—similar to FDA—that will sign off on any and all exotic financial products like credit default swaps, derivatives and all non-traditional products
- Give shareholders greater power to remove executives and board members of failing companies
- Establish mandatory fines and criminal penalties for rating agencies that knowingly mislead investors
- Establish independent state government Security and Exchange Commissions to monitor activities of public corporations headquartered in their states
Book to Launch April 21—Proceeds to Benefit Worst Victims of Economic Meltdown
The book launch, slated for April 21 at the Harvard Club in New York, has been planned as a fundraising event for New York City's Coalition for the Homeless, which serves some of the worst victims of the recent chaos in the markets.
As Brosnahan, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless. notes, “We’re thrilled to be working with Al on his book launch event. The issues raised in his book are ones that have an impact on so many New Yorkers on a daily basis. Every day, the Coalition works with thousands of people whose lives have been affected by the economic meltdown. Al’s approach to turning around failed companies has the potential to have a lasting impact among both shareholders and everyday people.”
The event will feature remarks by both Brosnahan and Strauss Zelnick, founder and chairman of investment group ZelnickMedia.
To arrange an interview or personal appearance by author Al Angrisani, please contact Joe Austin, Ventana Public Relations, at 818-591-2646 or joe.austin[.]ventanapr.com.
About Al Angrisani and Win One for the $hareholders For more than 20 years, Al Angrisani has been helping troubled and under-performing companies (TUCs) return to good, solid business practices and create wealth for their shareholders. As a result of his most recent engagement at online media company Greenfield Online, the company was sold to Microsoft Corporation for one-half billion dollars. Win One for the $hareholders, based on Angrisani's proven model for turning around troubled companies, is the tangible result of his decades of experience.
About the Coalition for the Homeless
NYC Coalition for the Homeless is the nation's oldest advocacy and direct service organization helping homeless men, women and children. It provides housing, food, job training, crisis services and children’s programs to over 3,500 New Yorkers each day. The Coalition believes that affordable housing, sufficient food and the chance to work for a living wage are fundamental rights in civilized society. Since 1981 it has fought successfully for lasting solutions to homelessness through ground-breaking advocacy.
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joe.austin[.]ventanapr.com 
