Atlanta, GA, Sept. 18--Home Depot said it expects former New York Stock Exchange chairman and chief executive Dick Grasso to serve out his term on the company's board until it expires next May.
Grasso, who resigned as head of the Big Board Wednesday in response to the rising furor over the $139.5 million payout he received last month, had agreed in June to step down from Home Depot's board next May to comply with new rules at the exchange that prohibit its top executives from serving on the boards of companies that trade on the exchange.
Grasso, who joined Home Depot's board in February 2002, also had faced criticism for his close relationship with Home Depot co-founder and lead director, Kenneth Langone. Langone, who also sits on the board of the exchange, headed the exchange's compensation committee when it set Grasso's 2002 pay package at more than $10 million. Under the exchange's new guidelines, Langone will step down from its compensation committee.
Despite this week's events, as well as criticism about perceived conflicts of interest for Langone that surfaced at Home Depot's May 30 shareholder meeting in Chicago--which resulted in calls by a few shareholders for Langone to step down as lead director--no changes are slated for Home Depot's board, the company said.
"Dick Grasso's experience with many companies and industries provide Home Depot with an unparalleled perspective on business and economic issues," Home Depot said in a written statement Thursday. "The Home Depot expects that Dick Grasso, as well as all other Board members, will complete the remainder of their terms through next May, at which time all Home Depot Directors stand for re-election."
In an emergency meeting of the NYSE board shortly after the market closed Wednesday, Grasso had offered to resign as chairman and chief executive, and after some discussion the board accepted in a 13-to-7 vote. Langone, who in recent days has publicly supported Grasso as "fair and reasonable," was among those who voted for Grasso, according to a source cited by the Associated Press.
