When signing employment or severance agreements, companies often insist on “non-disparagement” clauses in which executives promise not to badmouth their employers. I’m not sure why, but the number of times the word “non-disparagement” pops up in SEC filings has crept up steadily over the past few years, doubling between 2004 and 2007.
These “speak no evil” [...]

It’s been exactly six months since we last checked in with SM&A (WINS). During that time, the stock has declined 21%. But judging by this 8K filed late yesterday and the corresponding press release from last week, the company has a plan.
Enter Peter Pace, the former Joint Chiefs of Staff, who will be president and [...]

Last April, Interwoven (IWOV) announced that it had hired Joe Cowan to serve as its new CEO. Cowan had been CEO of Manugistics (old ticker: MANU), which was acquired by JDA Software (JDAS) in July 2006 for a whopping $2.50 a share, or $213 million.
That’s the history. But what struck me as interesting was the [...]

In order to attract a new top executive, some companies promise the keys to the corporate jet, as we footnoted here with I2 (ITWO) last year. But Advance Auto Parts (AAP), which announced in late November that it had hired former Best Buy (BBY) executive (and AAP board member) Darren Jackson as its new CEO, [...]

Although gold stars are normally reserved for Fridays, Footnoted decided to start the weekend a bit early. Today’s shiny star goes to NII Holdings (NIHD), formerly known as Nextel International, which provides wireless service throughout North and South America. NII recently named long-time Board member and former executive Steve Dussek as CEO, where [...]