5位因正当理由辞职的CEO

    科比•布鲁克斯，猫头鹰餐厅

    Coby Brooks, Hooters

    当科比•布鲁克斯继承这家以喜欢逗乐、着装性感火爆的女招待闻名的连锁餐厅时，它正在经历一场颇具悲剧色彩的危机。他的父亲罗伯特•布鲁克斯刚刚过世（他是在1984年买下这家餐厅并将其变为全国性连锁餐厅的）。老布鲁克斯2006年过世后，将其股份的30%留给科比，30%留给小女儿，剩下的部分留给其他家庭成员和一些机构。不过，罗伯特的第二任妻子对自己那一份并不满意。据称，这份股权可以让她在连续20年中每年获得100万美元。于是她就打起了官司，要求获得公司额外控制权。这导致猫头鹰餐厅（Hooters）陷入了围绕所有权展开的三年苦战。

    最后到了2009年，双方终于达成协议，该协议迫使科比必须筹集资金才能保持公司正常运营。他并没有停滞不前，而是把鸡翅连锁店卖给了一群投资者。科比随后成了另一家“美胸餐厅”（breastaraunt）连锁店——“双峰”（Twin Peaks）的早期投资者，这家店在不到十年时间里在全美扩张至近60家分店。真是有其父必有其子。

    梅格•惠特曼，易趣公司

    When Coby Brooks took over as the head of the restaurant chain known for fun-loving, scantily clad waitresses, it was wrapped in tragedy. His father, who bought the restaurant in 1984 and turned it into a national chain, had just passed away. The elder-Brooks, Robert, died in 2006, leaving 30% to Coby, 30% to a younger daughter, and the rest to various family members and organizations. Robert’s second wife, however, was not pleased with her share, which was reportedly for $1 million a year for 20 years. So she sued for additional control of the company. This led Hooters down a three-year battle for ownership.

    Finally, in 2009, the two sides settled, but it forced the younger Brooks to raise funds to keep the company running. Instead of sticking around, he sold the chicken wing chain to a group of investors. Coby became an early investor in another “breastaraunt” chain, Twin Peaks, which has increased its foothold to nearly 60 locations across the country in less than 10 years. Like father, like son.

    Meg Whitman, eBay

    当梅格•惠特曼1998年加入易趣公司（eBay）时，这家电商拍卖网站还只是一家又小又怪的初创企业。为了制定战略，它会召开全员大会，还会用上糖果罐。但这家公司在很短时间里就实现了迅猛增长，最终促使惠特曼下定决心加盟。她干得很棒。到2008年她离职时，易趣的销售额已经猛增到逾80亿美元，她也跻身全美最富有的女性之列。

    尽管她大获成功，但投资者希望看到易趣能脱胎换骨。它斥资28亿美元收购的网络电话服务Skype一直就没什么回报，同时亚马逊公司（Amazon）的发展却已开始影响到易趣的盈利能力。但真正的离职原因，可能仅仅是任职时间问题。惠特曼很早就说过，一个卓有成效的首席执行官的任期应限定为10年。她言出必行。

    惠特曼后来想投身政界，2010年谋求竞选加州州长一职。不过她输给了民主党人杰瑞•布朗。

    最后惠特曼又进入惠普公司（Hewlett-Packard）担当掌门。10月，她宣布这家科技巨头将一分为二，自己将出任拆分后专注于企业技术的公司CEO，并兼任专注于消费者硬件的公司的董事长。

    When Meg Whitman joined eBay in 1998, the e-commerce auction site was just a small, quirky startup that used company-wide meetings and candy jars to determine its strategy. But it had grown significantly in a short period, convincing Whitman to join the firm. Good thing she did, as she grew the company to over $8 billion in sales by the time she left in 2008 as one of the richest women in America.

    Despite her success, investors wanted to see significant change at eBay EBAY 3.37% . A $2.8 billion purchase of Internet telephone service Skype never panned out, while Amazon’s growth began to affect eBay’s bottom line. But really, it was just time. Whitman had long said that 10 years was the term limit for an effective CEO. She stayed true to her word.

    Whitman decided to try her hand at politics, seeking the California governor’s seat in 2010. She lost to Democrat Jerry Brown.

    Whitman ultimately wound up running Hewlett-Packard HPQ 2.72% . In October, she announced that the tech giant would split into two, leaving her as the head of the corporate technology unit and chair of the consumer hardware business.