Granted sometimes the entire business climate turns south or sudden shifts in a market segment catches the largest players off guard because of the organization's sheer size and complexity. I'll also acknowledge the fact CEO positions carry a weight of responsibility no one can fully appreciate from afar. Sometimes the tough decisions that affect people's lives are the right ones when the future of the company hangs in the balance. And just to be clear because I've heard it too many times before and right now I'm not in the mood; I don't envy the rich for the sake of it, nor am I a "socialist."
Barack Obama is exactly right, and since he is preparing to accept the reins of power over an organization that dwarfs entities such as GM there's no one in a stronger position to call for accountability aside from the current officeholder (not that it'll ever cross his mind.). Obama has more conviction that any of the Democrats who's looked the other way while this Wall Street culture of greed took hold. The President administers the SEC, FTC, DOJ, and the rest of the regulatory alphabet soup tasked with overseeing trade, commerce, and industry. But Congress has oversight authority through a litany of committees and sub-committees. Not only did Bush put the interest of the few above the nation's citizens through a hands-off approach, so did Congress. At last I feel there is someone in Washington who intends to reverse course, someone who actually maintains a connection to the people when it's not election time and has the courage to use the office as a bully pulpit.
Think about how far we've fallen over the past 20 or 30 years. The Captains of Industry are now the rats on the ship. H. Ross Perot personally saw to it that two of his employees trapped in a Terhan prison in the midst of the revolution escaped to freedom. These bozos who can't bring their limos and Gulfstreams down from orbit to consider the people and institutions they're ruining need to be shot down.
Fire all of them, federalize the industry, and put Roger Penske in charge of the whole mess. The man knows cars, he know the value of cutting edge technology and changing markets, most importantly he knows how to win. Everybody laughed when he began initial talks with Mercedes-Benz about importing the SmartCar a few years ago. It's a Euro car, nobody will buy it. Look where his Penske Automotive Group ranks in relation to industry peers;
Rank Company 500 rank Revenues
($ millions)
1 AutoNation 138 17,950.6
2 Penske Automotive Group 194 13,448.6
3 Sonic Automotive 298 8,849.1
4 Hertz Global Holdings 304 8,685.6
5 CarMax 333 7,465.7
6 Group 1 Automotive 379 6,393.0
7 Avis Budget Group 411 5,986.0
8 Asbury Automotive Group 421 5,775.9
9 Lithia Motors 622 3,320.1
10 PHH 687 2,920.0
Penske has been a maverick his entire career, shaping his blue-collar businesses into a mini empire on wheels. Starting with a Chevrolet dealership in Philadelphia in 1965, he has built Penske Corp. into a $17 billion amalgamation of public and private transportation enterprises. Its crown jewel is Penske Automotive Group (Charts, Fortune 500), the country's second-largest network of car dealers.
Now that he's eligible for Social Security, Penske could be spending more time at his summer place on Nantucket or cruising on his 150-foot yacht, Detroit Eagle. Not a chance. Penske has no interest in retiring and in fact keeps looking for more mountains to climb.
"I love to work," he said during an interview with Fortune in New York City. "If you are having fun, it is no problem going into your office."
Roger Penske adds the Smart car to his $17B empire - Oct. 5, 2007