The Business Courier Reports
CEO searches are getting tough

In the aftermath of the Enron, WorldCom and other corporate scandals that have rocked Wall Street, candidates for CEO jobs are thinking harder and demanding better compensation packages before taking on the top job at multimillion dollar companies, observers say.

"It ain't easy to find a CEO these days," said Dan Quinn, a chemical industry analyst with Morningstar.com in Chicago. "It's a thankless job at this point."

Ashland announced their CEO will resign this year and then clarified the announcement later that the CEO was leaving because he violated a company policy.

Tthe company's board of directors can expect to pay a premium for a new CEO, executive headhunters say.

"Many boards have adopted this searching-for-a-savior mentality rather than focusing on what the strategy for the company is,'' said Rakesh Khurana, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School whose book "Searching for a Corporate Savior" will be published next month.