GE dropping 2 directors to meet board independence standards
GE is making the right moves to ensure that its board of directors meets standards according to this New York Times story (registration required).Thus Scott McNealy will step down since Sun Microsystems is a financial partner, customer and supplier of GE.
General Electric had the lowest proportion of independent directors among the 20 largest companies by revenue in 2001, according to a survey by the Investor Responsibility Research Center, which advises fund managers on governance issues.
...General Electric's chief executive, Jeffrey R. Immelt, said he wanted two-thirds of the board to be independent. He pledged to name new members and endorsed rules by the New York Stock Exchange that require companies whose shares it lists to have boards with a majority of members with no personal or business links to management.
...General Electric said that chief executives of other companies on its board could serve on two additional boards. Also, the companies those executives run can have sales to and purchases from General Electric that total less than 1 percent of their revenue.