David Cote on corporate governance
From Ep. 890: David Cote Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio · · Trend Following
“I realized the extent of the issues that we had to deal with the aggressive accounting the unrecognized environmental Asbestos and pension liabilities I said oh man okay I just got a buckle down I guess and figure this thing out discussed it with the board and then it was pulled aside by kind of let's say an acting lead director at the end of the meeting saying Dave we don't want to hear about any of that stuff at the board as far as we're concerned that's just your responsibility to run the company whatever it is you figure it out okay oversight was not that much oversight no at that point I realized I have a board I can't trust and I have a staff I can't trust so I've got to really start thinking differently about how to get things done.”
On , David Cote, Former Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at Honeywell, spoke about corporate governance during Ep. 890: David Cote Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio on Trend Following.
About David Cote
David Cote, former chairman and CEO of Honeywell, appeared on the podcast "Action Catalyst" in September 2022 to discuss his book "Winning Now, Winning Later." During the interview, Cote described his approach to balancing short-term performance with long-term investment, stating that while he could grow earnings at 14 percent, he chose to grow them at 10 percent in order to reinvest the difference into initiatives such as globalization, new products, and process improvements. He also noted that telling investors or a boss that performance will be poor for three years before improving is typically not well received, as they may seek alternatives in the meantime. Cote also discussed the importance of reliable accounting systems, saying that accounting was Honeywell's primary information system and that unreliable data would lead to poor decisions about profitability. He reflected on his tenure at Honeywell, where he grew the company's market capitalization from approximately $20 billion to nearly $120 billion, and he encouraged listeners to connect with him on LinkedIn.