May 3, 1999, would’ve been a good day for Rick Wagoner to retire. On that day he was president and chief operating officer of General Motors — the company’s No. 2 man — and the stock closed at an all-time high of $93.75
Instead, he hung around to become chief executive officer in 2000, and it’s been downhill ever since. With shares of GM now hovering around $5, the stock has lost 95 percent of its value during his tenure, and some in Congress are considering making his resignation a condition of any bailout plan.
While he can’t be blamed for the economic crisis that hastened GM’s collapse, Wagoner was at the reigns for some critical decisions that, in hindsight, contributed to the carmaker being pushed to the brink.
How did he blow it? Let us count some ways.
Wagoner Let the Import Fighter Lose its Fight
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