Every year after publishing the first Biggest Quits list in 2005, media and followers began to ask us “What about [this person]?” or “Who almost made the list?”. As a result, we created the list of Close Contenders. This includes the best of the rest of the hundreds of resignations we track every year. Resignations impact organizations, schools, industries, the economy, and society but not everyone can make the Top 10 list. Close contenders did not receive a seat at the top of the list but deserve mention because their quits are noteworthy or highly visible.
Les Hinton (CEO): Dow Jones & Co.
Why this is a big quit: The loss of the CEO of Dow Jones, following the News Corp. phone hacking scandal is a very very big quit. After Hinton’s announcement in July, News International stock fell as casualties of News Corp’s improper journalistic practices continued to mount.
Why it’s not as big as our Top 10: The Biggest Quits generally highlights individuals who leave when their organizations would benefit if they stayed. Analysis around Hinton’s resignation was that Murdoch and News Corp could benefit if he left. Hinton’s ignorance of impropriety made it plausible that other top employees were unaware of what was taking place, and he could take the fall. At the time, there was much unknown about Hinton’s involvement while he was at the Wall Street Journal. Reports in October seemed to implicate Hinton beyond what he led on to knowing when he resigned in July. It seems he was made aware that editors were pressuring their reporters to access individual’s private voicemails.
Kevin Rose (Founder): Digg.Com
Why this was a big quit: Founded and led by Rose, Digg.com was one of the first massively popular news aggregating websites. Content was discovered, posted, and voted on by the community. A cornerstone of the Web 2.0 movement, Digg’s success reached lexiconic status as web surfers compelled one another to “digg it” and swarmed a site that was “dugg”. Digg advanced a new way to conceptualize and present the internet information overload.
Why this is not as big as our Top 10: In the last 18 months, Digg’s traffic fell considerably and once loyal users turn to alternative sites and online communities. This came in large part because of drastic (and severely disliked) Version 4 changes implemented by Rose in 2010. Jay Adelson’s (then CEO) departure in 2010 began the rocky road for Digg, when Rose took over. Rose’s departure may even help the comapny, as new perspectives could revitalize their approach to social news. Rose is now working with other major social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare, focusing on developing content for mobile applications.
Tony LaRussa (Manager): St. Louis Cardinals
Why this is a big quit: Tony LaRussa sealed his status as one of the best managers in baseball history by going out on top of his game with the St. Louis Cardinal’s 2011 World Series victory. Prior to his success with the Cardinals, Tony managed the Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics where he earned a 2,728 record and 70 postseason wins. LaRussa’s retirement strikes at a bad time for the Cardinals as Albert Pujols, one of the top players in the MLB, is walks away from his home team of 11 years for more money.
Why this is not as big as our Top 10: After 15 years with the Cardinals and four Manager of the Year awards it would be difficult for LaRussa to shower his team with much more success than he already has. It was not entirely surprising that LaRussa would end his run this year. The 67-years-old coach felt it was time to retire and pass the bat to another leader.
Vivian Schiller (President & CEO): NPR
Why this is a big quit: Schiller was a highly regarded leader of National Public Radio prior to the scandals that shook the organization while she was President & CEO. She recovered NPR from falling revenues and lost listeners. The quit was so big because just weeks prior to her resignation, the US House of Representatives voted to eliminate the $451 million grant to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the major underwriter of NPR. In December 2011, Congress did allocate almost all of the funds, however NPR remains on alert from the government’s very aggressive cost-cutting position.
Why this is not as big as our Top 10: After the criticized Juan Williams termination, and Ron Schiller’s comments that NPR doesn’t need funding, it was in NPR’s best interest to indicate that they could manage their own. Schiller resigned from her position in March of 2011 after the Board indicated that “controversies under Schiller's watch had become such a distraction that she could no longer effectively lead the organization”. This incident is closer to an ousting than a “quit”. Schiller landed as Chief Digital Officer at CNBC in June.
Robert Kelly (CEO): Bank of New York-Mellon
Why this is a big quit: Kelly’s resignation was unexpected and will have a major impact on the direction of Bank of New York-Mellon (BNY-Mellon). Mellon financial merged with BNY in 2007, and moved headquarters to New York City. Kelly was a key driver in keeping thousands of jobs in the Pittsburgh area and maintaining stability throughout the process. Kelly was one of the few who steered clear of the mortgage crisis that plagued many of his banking counterparts. It is unclear what is next for BNY-Mellon, who praised Kelly during most of his five years as CEO.
Why this is not as big as our Top 10: BNY-Mellon stock price fell 31% YTD prior to Kelly’s resignation. There is limited evidence to what exactly were the “differences in approaches to managing the company”, though recent and projected performance was likely a factor. Sources also cited disagreements with board members, personal reasons on Kelly’s part, and organic events for why Kelly left BNY-Mellon so suddenly. The bank’s current President, Gerald Hassell, seemed prepared to assume Kelly’s position as CEO. BNY-Mellon showed no significant warning signs after Kelly left. Still, a degree of ambiguity exists for the relatively conservative bank, that warrants following into 2012.
Shaquille O’Neal (NBA Player): Boston Celtics
Why this is a big quit: After 19 seasons, the one and only Shaq Diesel hangs up his uniform for good. The 7’1” player retires with an astounding 28,596 points, 1992-1993 Rookie of the Year award, 1999-2000 MVP award, and 15 All-Star game selections on his resume to name a few. He ranks 5th all-time in points scored, 5th in field goals, 12th in rebounds, and 7th in blocks. Shaq is one of the great NBA players of all time and made a lasting impact on the sport.
Why this is not as big as our Top 10: In his later career O’Neal suffered several injuries, and at 39, this is a good age for Shaq to stop hurting himself. With only one year on the Celtics, his departure will not have a huge impact on the team. Shaq is retiring to spend more time with his children and perhaps he will create another rap album or another reality show. Turner Network Television (TNT) officially announced that O'Neal will join as NBA games color commentator.
So many resignations, so little time: Twitter
Why this is a big quit: Recently there has been a mass exodus from the social networking pioneer. The departed include: Pam Kramer (VP Marketing), Mike Abbot (VP Engineering), Sean Garrett (Head of Communications), Abdue Chowbury (Chief Scientist), Lynn Fox (Communications Director) and Lori Britcher (Creator of iOS application Tweetie). Reasons for leaving range from no reason at all to getting “back to a more entrepreneurial company”. The average tenure of those leaving the company is between 3 and 4 months so it gets harder to build traction around strategic initiatives. The company says that they are a growing company and turnover like this is just what happens. However, that’s not what happens. Growing companies are magnets for talent and high performers surf the wave of success under them.
Why this is not as big as our Top 10: Although many people are leaving, these individual’s, and their positions are not significant enough to have a meaningful impact on Twitter’s monopoly. With every employee departing there is sure to be a dozen individuals who are willing to serve as great replacements.
Joey DeFrancesco (Room Service): Renaissance Marriot Hotels
Talk about going out in style and telling your boss to stick it. Joey DeFrancesco made quite a statement in giving his letter of resignation to his unsuspecting manager when he showed up with a marching band that played as he walked out the door. Check out the You Tube video. Although Joey’s position at Marriot may not be that significant, the video has gone viral with about 3 million hits since it’s posting on October 12. This has obviously resulted in some bad publicity for Marriot. Joey has become a hero among other hotel service workers and has now provided them with an outlet to publicly vent their frustration with their employers and post their own videos for the whole world to see at Joey Quits.com.
Soap Operas: TV Viewers
Why this is a big quit: There was a time when daytime television was synonymous with Soap Operas, offering a melodramatic hour of fantasy for housewives. 2011 saw the end of two cornerstones in the Soap Opera world as ABC announced that “All My Children” (1970) and “One Life to Live” (1968) would be coming to an end. The death of the Soap Opera may carry a more significant message beyond that Americans may be tiring of evil twins, inexplicable plot twists and spouses going in and out of comas. The presence of alternative daytime television like Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil and the Talk may be more intellectually stimulating to the viewer and far cheaper for the networks to produce. The rise of social media, online communities and on demand video content (Netflix, Hulu, DVR) allow for daytime activities beyond the scope that was once available.
Why this is not as big as our Top 10: Viewers may be abandoning their old favorite soap operas, for more productive pursuits but many are leaving “All My Children” or “One Life to Live” to devote more time to watching “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” or “The Real Housewives of Orange County.” The jump from Soap Operas to Reality TV may not be such a historically world changing trend of 2011.
