directors

Jim Breyer, a partner at venture capitalist firm Accel Partners, was named to Dell's board of directors Monday.

Breyer, 47, will join the board immediately and will be up for official election at the company's annual meeting in July. He will fill one of two slots left vacant by the impending departures of A.G. Lafley and Michael Miles, two directors who announced earlier this year they would not seek re-election.

Considering who he is replacing, Breyer's appointment is useful in looking at where Dell is heading. Breyer's solid credentials as a Silicon Valley money man, … Read more

It's never too early to know your organs of state. To this end, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is hosting what it calls the Intelligence Agency Community Kids' Page.

The page offers roughly a dozen links to U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agency sites, where children can learn about the institutional layout and various skill sets of each department.

For example, the NSA offers a primer on cryptology, led by a collection of trademarked characters like Crypto Cat and Decipher Dog. Youngsters can race through timed puzzles and try their hand at photo analysis with … Read more

Microsoft said on Monday that it is adding Harvey Mudd College President Maria Klawe to its board of directors.

Klawe, who previously worked for IBM Research, has also taught at Princeton University and the University of British Columbia focusing on computer science and engineering.

"Maria has made significant research contributions to computer science and mathematics, and we are very fortunate to have her join Microsoft's board of directors," Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said in a statement. "In particular, I think her close connection to university students and the way they shape computing trends will bring an … Read more

Michael Miles and Alan (A.G.) Lafley are stepping down from Dell's board of directors in July when their terms end, Dell announced Thursday.

Miles, a special limited partner of private equity firm Forstmann Little & Co., has been a member of the PC maker's board for 14 years. He was formerly CEO of Philip Morris.

Lafley has been a board member for just under three years. He steps down to spend more time at his day job as chairman and CEO of Procter & Gamble, according to Dell.

Miles is the chairman of the board's Government … Read more

One of the Hewlett-Packard board's last remaining ties to some of the company's most turbulent times will soon be severed.

Richard Hackborn, the HP board of directors' lead independent director, informed the board last week he will not seek re-election at the company's annual meeting scheduled for March 18, according to a Tuesday SEC filing. Hackborn will continue to serve until that date.

An HP representative said Tuesday it was Hackborn's "personal decision to retire."

Hackborn was a longtime HP employee before joining the board. He served briefly as chairman from January to September … Read more

Rajiv Gupta will join Hewlett-Packard's board of directors beginning in January 2009, the company said Wednesday.

Since 1999 Gupta has been the chairman, president, and CEO of Rohm and Haas, a chemical company. Before that he held various other positions at Rohm, where he started in 1971. Gupta also serves on the board of electronics maker Tyco International and The Vanguard Group.

"For nine years as chairman and CEO, Raj Gupta has successfully guided Rohm and Haas through today's ever-evolving global business environment," Mark Hurd, CEO of HP, said in a statement. "We look forward … Read more

Does Intel vPro ring any bells? Not for most people. The newest version of vPro software and accompanying Intel hardware introduced Monday won't command the attention paid to an Intel processor rollout.

Understandable because vPro is an under-the-hood, non-performance-driven technology that falls off many PC users' radar screens. In essence, vPro allows PCs to be fixed and maintained remotely, potentially saving businesses money because they don't incur the cost of IT staffing levels necessary if maintenance was done at each PC on site.

For example, a feature called Remote Alert will "call" IT on its own … Read more

The new Yahoo board--which now includes Carl Icahn and two new directors he backed--plans to meet next week, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The board will meet at dinnertime on Monday and then again on Tuesday, but it was unclear whether Icahn would attend in person or not given that he often attends board meetings by phone, the report said, citing unidentified sources.

A Yahoo spokeswoman said the company does not comment on board meetings or agendas.

Icahn did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Icahn, Frank Biondi, and John Chapple joined the board this summer … Read more

Updated August 21, 2008 at 11:02 AM PST with comments from Glassdoor's CEO.

Glassdoor.com uses an online questionnaire so employees can rate their companies and CEOs. I took the questionnaire. It's all the usual stuff, like what do you think of the leadership abilities and competence of senior management, would you recommend your company as a place to work, that sort of thing.

I thought it would be interesting to track the stock performance of the

public companies with CEOs that had the highest approval ratings versus those with the lowest approval ratings.

Guess what I found?

Over the past five years, shares of all the companies whose CEOs had the highest approval ratings were in the black, while shares of all the companies whose CEOs had the lowest approval ratings were either in the red or flat. We're talking 8 of 8 in the black, 8 of 8 in the red or flat.

What does that tell you?

First, that we live in America, the great land of greed and capitalism. If you're stock is in the money, the CEO's a god. If your options are under water, he's a dog. And don't flame me, it's what employees had to say, not me. But for what it's worth, I don't think that's a bad thing.… Read more