5位因正当理由辞职的CEO

Gerard J. Arpey, AMR

    对航空公司来说，宣布破产已经变成一种行规。通过破产，航空公司就能和工会重新谈判，并砍掉多余成本。但当美利坚航空公司（AMR）——美国航空公司（American Airlines）的母公司——在2011年准备递交破产申请时，最大的反对者竟是首席执行官兼董事长杰勒德•阿佩。不支持这一决定的原因是，他从来不信奉逃离承诺（比如给工人支付养老金）以安抚投资者那一套。

    破产决定数月前，在接受戈登学院（Gordon College）院长D•迈克尔•林赛为《纽约时报》(The New York Times)进行的采访时，阿佩说：“我坚信，尽自己最大努力来信守承诺，关乎这家公司的品格及其长远成功。无论是在公司层面还是个人层面，认为自己能随随便便摆脱现实、放弃责任都不是什么好想法。”

    尽管董事会执意要他留任，阿佩还是辞了职，让富有破产处理经验的人来接手。目前他已加入私募投资公司Emerald Creek集团。

    比尔•盖茨，微软公司

    Declarations of bankruptcy have become an industry norm for airlines. By doing so, an airline can re-negotiate with unions and rid itself of unwanted costs. But in 2011, when AMR Corp.—parent of American Airlines—prepared to file its papers, the biggest opponent of the move was CEO and Chairman Gerard J. Arpey. He didn’t support the decision because he didn’t believe in walking away from commitments, like pensions, to appease investors.

    “I believe it’s important to the character of the company and its ultimate long-term success to do your very best to honor those commitments,” Arpey told D. Michael Lindsay, the president of Gordon College, writing for The New York Times months before the bankruptcy decision. “It is not good thinking—either at the corporate level or at the personal level—to believe you can simply walk away from your circumstances.”

    Arpey quit to let someone with experience handling bankruptcies to take over, despite the board’s request that he stay. He now works in private equity at the Emerald Creek Group.

    Bill Gates, Microsoft

    当你已是全球顶级富翁时，要从自己一手创办的公司辞职可能会比较容易。但是，没有几个超级富豪级的首席执行官能像比尔•盖茨那样，在离职后又成为慈善事业的领导者。

    2008年，盖茨宣布他将不再参与微软公司（Microsoft）的日常运营（2000年他就辞去首席执行官一职，但2008年前仍作为首席软件架构师，参与公司日常战略的制定工作），转而将更多时间投入到比尔和梅林达•盖茨基金会（Bill and

    Melinda Gates Foundation）。直至2014年年底，他仍将留任微软董事长一职。

    与此同时，盖茨一直致力于让全球各地的患者能更方便地获得小儿麻痹症和疟疾疫苗，并通过一个总额达4千万美元的农业科研项目来改善全球性饥荒问题。他甚至签署了沃伦•巴菲特的“捐款誓言”（Giving Pledge），承诺过世后将自己的绝大部分财富捐给慈善事业。

    盖茨并没有回避争议性主题。他正加倍致力于美国教育体系的改革，大力推广共同核心标准（Common Core standards），这一标准将为美国所有学生提供统一的课程指南。43个州和哥伦比亚特区已经采取了这一标准。不过对此一直不乏批评之声，认为这些标准的成果有限。但它仍是美国历史上最大规模的教育改革之一。

    It may be easier to quit the company you founded when you’re one of the wealthiest men in the world. But few uber-rich CEOs have taken the lead in philanthropic causes like Bill Gates.

    In 2008, Gates announced that he would step away from the day-to-day operations at Microsoft MSFT 1.81% (he resigned as CEO in 2000, but remained an integral part of the daily strategy at Microsoft as chief software architect until 2008) to devote more time to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He remained Microsoft’s chairman through 2014.

    Meanwhile, Gates has led initiatives to increase the availability of the polio and malaria vaccine across the world, improve world hunger through a $40 million agriculture research program. He even signed on to Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge, committing a majority of his fortune to charity once he passes away.

    Gates hasn’t avoided controversial topics. He stepped up efforts to reform the U.S. educational system, trumpeting the Common Core standards, which provide uniform curriculum guidelines for all American students. Forty-three states and the District of Columbia have adopted the standards. But critics have circled, arguing the rules have produced limited results. Still, it represents one of the largest education reforms in U.S. history.