Men's Wearhouse創(chuàng)始人被掃地出門背后的故事
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????喬治?齊默被The Men's Wearhouse公司掃地出門了！全美國(guó)似乎都聽(tīng)到了這個(gè)令人震驚的消息。喬治?齊默在供職于這家男裝零售商的40年里曾無(wú)數(shù)次在電視廣告中信誓旦旦地保證，客戶一定會(huì)喜歡他們的樣子。 ????這家公司最初發(fā)布的解職聲明非常簡(jiǎn)潔，沒(méi)有做任何解釋，致使不少客戶和粉絲紛紛在社交媒體上表達(dá)憤怒情緒。隨后，它提供了一個(gè)更加詳盡的解釋。本質(zhì)上是聲稱，齊默無(wú)法接受他不再執(zhí)掌自己創(chuàng)辦的公司這個(gè)現(xiàn)實(shí)——齊默于2011年把CEO一職移交給了道格?尤爾特，但依然擔(dān)任執(zhí)行董事長(zhǎng)。這份新聞通稿還指稱，他一直尋求將公司私有化。齊默隨即聘請(qǐng)了一家公關(guān)公司，發(fā)表了一封言辭激烈的公開(kāi)信。 ????此后，The Men's Wearhouse持續(xù)成為新聞主角。這家公司先是收購(gòu)了另一個(gè)男裝品牌艾堡德(Joseph Abboud)。10月份，規(guī)模較小的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手Jos. A. Bank出價(jià)23億美元，對(duì)它提出收購(gòu)要約。這項(xiàng)提議遭到拒絕，The Men's Wearhouse公司轉(zhuǎn)而實(shí)施所謂的反噬防御策略，打算以15.4億美元的價(jià)格收購(gòu)Jos. A. Bank。 ????但齊默本人卻陷入了沉默。他解聘了那家公關(guān)公司，自6月份以來(lái)，他一直未就他的離職或未來(lái)發(fā)表任何公開(kāi)評(píng)論。直至現(xiàn)在。 ????12月初，齊默接受了《財(cái)富》雜志的電話專訪，以下是經(jīng)過(guò)編輯的交談?dòng)涗洝Ｔ谶@次交談中，他坦率地回顧了這次解雇事件，他對(duì)Jos. A. Bank合并交易的看法，以及為什么他現(xiàn)在似乎比任何時(shí)候都更受歡迎。 ????《財(cái)富》：你是如何獲悉The Men's Wearhouse打算不再聘請(qǐng)你擔(dān)任執(zhí)行董事長(zhǎng)？ ????齊默：大約10天前，我收到了一封言辭極其苛刻，用意極其卑劣的電子郵件。電郵里說(shuō)，我的職位和薪酬“在這個(gè)時(shí)候”將保持不變。隨后，他們就開(kāi)始了一系列小動(dòng)作，基本意圖就是要把我趕出我的辦公室。我當(dāng)時(shí)非常痛苦，跟我實(shí)際上被解雇時(shí)的感受沒(méi)什么兩樣。原因在于，到了這個(gè)節(jié)骨眼，我已經(jīng)非常清楚即將發(fā)生什么事情。 ????根據(jù)此前的安排，那個(gè)周三要召開(kāi)一次股東大會(huì)，隨后將在周四召開(kāi)董事會(huì)會(huì)議。所以，我在周一晚住進(jìn)了酒店。幾位董事分別來(lái)找我談話，解釋第二天即將發(fā)生的事情。我不會(huì)被立刻解職，他們還是為我提供了一個(gè)有名無(wú)實(shí)的職位，以及一筆還算公平的薪酬。但我絕對(duì)不愿意為昔日的下屬工作，他們現(xiàn)在竟然要求我出任我當(dāng)初雇傭他們擔(dān)當(dāng)?shù)穆毼弧Ｋ晕揖芙^了。 ????第二天的年度股東大會(huì)上，我原本將被重新選舉為公司董事，因?yàn)檫B續(xù)數(shù)周的代理人投票已經(jīng)結(jié)束。于是，他們表示，除了不再供職于公司之外，他們還希望我辭去董事一職。如果我不從的話，他們將推遲股東大會(huì)，這些人也的確這么干了。接著，他們發(fā)出了新的代理人投票委托書(shū)。在這份委托書(shū)上，我沒(méi)有獲得董事提名。 ????被解雇時(shí)，我沒(méi)有獲得一分錢的遣散費(fèi)。他們甚至收繳了我的電話，終止了我的保險(xiǎn)。 |
????It was the firing heard around America. George Zimmer was out at The Men's Wearhouse (MW), after 40 years and countless television ads in which he guaranteed that customers would like the way they look. ????The company's initial termination announcement was terse and without explanation, sparking social media outrage among some customers and fans. It then provided a more detailed explanation, essentially alleging that Zimmer was unable to accept that he was no longer CEO of the company he founded -- Zimmer handed the reins over to Doug Ewert in 2011, but remained executive chairman -- and alleged that he had been working to take the company private. Zimmer hired a PR firm and responded in a blistering public letter. ????Since then, The Men's Wearhouse has continued to be in the news. First for buying Joseph Abboud, and then when smaller rival Jos. A. Bank (JOSB) offered in early October to acquire the company for $2.3 billion. That offer was rebuffed, with The Men's Wearhouse then offering to buy Jos. A. Bank for $1.54 billion, in a so-called Pac-Man defense. ????But Zimmer went silent. He took that PR firm off retainer and has not made any public comments about his firing or future since June. Until now. ????What follows is an edited transcript of a phone conversation, held with Zimmer last Thursday. In it, he discusses his termination, his thoughts on a Jos. A. Bank merger, and why he seems more popular now than ever before: ????FORTUNE: How did you learn that The Men's Wearhouse was planning to fire you as executive chairman? ????ZIMMER: I got an email about 10 days earlier, which was extremely harsh and mean-spirited. It said that my job status and compensation would remain the same "at this time." Then they basically began throwing me out of my office, and that was as traumatic as when I was actually terminated because, at that point, it was pretty clear what was happening. ????We had a scheduled board meeting on a Tuesday followed by a scheduled shareholder meeting on the Wednesday, so I checked into the hotel on Monday evening. A couple of directors came to see me individually to explain what was happening the next day. I wasn't being summarily discharged, but instead they offered me a figurehead position, with fair compensation. But I elected not to work for people who I had originally hired to work at the company, who now just wanted me in that sort of role. So I declined. ????I was going to be reelected director at the annual shareholder meeting the next day, because the proxies had already been out for weeks. So they then said that they wanted me to resign as director as well as be terminated as an employee, and if not they'd postpone the shareholder meeting, which is what they did. Then they sent out new proxies in which I wasn't nominated ... ????When I was terminated I got no severance. They even took my phone and cut off my insurance. |
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