More on FPL management greed

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Note:  I see that nothing has changed since I left FPL. FPL's 

management style is to eliminate employees, pay them as little as 

possible, at the same time lining their pockets with millions! In 

this case, Broadhead received $22.7 million for a failed merger, and 

then has the gall to say that the Entergy employees who would be 

terminated should have no severance paid. Like I said .. not much has 

changed, except that FPL management has become even greedier. BTW, 

Broadhead is the highes paid utility executive.



Palm Beach Post 

April 4, 2001



JUNO BEACH -- Energy analysts said Tuesday the breakup of the FPL-

Entergy deal saw one of the most shocking displays of bitterness 

between managements they've ever seen. 



A day after FPL Group and Entergy Corp. announced they were ending 

the $15.8 billion deal to create the nation's largest electric 

company, analysts are still trying to get over what they heard. 



"The Entergy people aired more dirty laundry than I've ever heard on 

a conference call in 10 years. I was sitting here in complete 

astonishment," said Fred Schultz, analyst with Raymond James and 

Associates in Houston. 



Juno Beach-based FPL Group (NYSE: FPL) and New Orleans-based Entergy 

(NYSE: ETR) agreed Monday to end the deal, announced July 31. It 

would have created a company with 6.3 million customers in five 

states. 



FPL blamed Entergy for the breakup, saying Entergy gave FPL 

"significantly" higher earnings projections than Entergy gave its own 

board and investment bankers. Entergy countered that it uses several 

sets of different financial forecasts, and pointed instead to 

management conflicts with FPL Chairman and CEO James Broadhead. 



Entergy CEO Wayne Leonard said Broadhead wanted to fire him and 

Entergy CFO John Wilder. 



Entergy's stock rose $1 Tuesday, closing at $39 after the company 

announced that its earnings for the first quarter of 2001 would beat 

estimates by 10 to 15 percent. FPL's stock closed Tuesday at $61.46, 

up 25 cents. 



Analysts said it is clear the companies have completely different 

management styles -- FPL's more conservative, Entergy's more 

aggressive. The styles have served each company well, analysts said, 

but didn't mesh. 



Leonard said Monday corporate culture differences started to become 

an issue in February. Leonard said Broadhead called Entergy's culture 

"chaotic," and told FPL and Entergy directors in a March 22 meeting 

that Leonard was not up to the job of CEO, and that Wilder should be 

fired. 



Analysts say if that is true, it's odd, because FPL would have had 

eight board members to Entergy's seven after the deal was done, and 

could have ousted Leonard and Wilder later. 



But Leonard said Broadhead criticized every part of Entergy's 

business, saying the company gave too much in corporate donations, 

and that it should kill a severance program for employees who would 

lose their jobs during the consolidation. 



"I've never seen that behavior in my 28 years in the business," 

Leonard told analysts Monday. "I've never had anyone question my 

confidence level like Mr. Broadhead did. FPL's distrust in Entergy 

seemed to apply universally to all personnel." 



FPL spokeswoman Mary Lou Kromer said Tuesday the utility didn't want 

to get into a "war of words," but that FPL began to lose confidence 

in Entergy managers when they refused to explain discrepancies in 

financial forecasts. 



Analysts and industry experts say many deals fail because of cultural 

differences, though many companies try to put a positive spin on the 

fallout. 



"In most cases parties tend to hide any severe difficulties to 

protect themselves. I thought the statements of both sides seemed a 

little intemperate," said Jonathan Cole, a managing partner with the 

Edwards & Angell law firm in Palm Beach, which has handled several 

consolidations. 



------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	

Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    

ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.			E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           

ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          

Costa Mesa, CA 92626



Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com



************************************************************************

You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,

send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu  Put the text "unsubscribe

radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.