Pulte founder slams Dugas for ‘bad decision making,’ such as HQ move to Atlanta (how much)

[LynnHarris]

The founder of PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) sent a letter Monday to the company board of directors calling for the retiring CEO Richard Dugas to leave sooner than May 2017 and blaming the executive for a host of “bad decision making” that included moving the company to Atlanta.

Pulte also said he wanted to “reiterate my extreme disappointment in the leadership of CEO Richard Dugas and the lack of performance of PulteGroup under his watch.”

He added: “Dugas’ lack of performance and repeated bad decision-making has led me to conclude that the company needs new leadership.”

And among those bad decisions, apparently, was the Fortune 500 company’s headquarters move to Atlanta.
“Richard Dugas moved the Company’s headquarters from suburban Detroit to Atlanta, which cost the shareholders tens of millions of dollars with no apparent benefit to shareholders..."

Full Story: http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/n...on-making.html

[cqholt]

The founder is upset Pulte Group didn't get a public handout.

[0nyxStation]

Is Dugas a black guy?? The way he is being talked about seems as such. Let me google him..

[Aubie16]

Originally Posted by 0nyxStation

Is Dugas a black guy?? The way he is being talked about seems as such. Let me google him..

Or you could just click on the link which has a giant picture of him at the start of the article. But no, he is not black. Unsure what that has to do with anything regardless.

[fieldm]

Don't blame them

[Airforceguy]

Well at least the Pulte family does intend to keep the HQ in Atlanta and they also want to become more involved in the city by helping to remove blight....

The company that Bill Pulte Sr. founded in 1950 is not moving its headquarters out of Atlanta. That’s what Bill Pulte III said in a phone interview Tuesday morning.

The younger Pulte even said he will spend a lot more time in Atlanta seeking to fill the void left by the future departure of Richard Dugas, the CEO of PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM).
Dugas and the board of PulteGroup announced Monday morning his plans to retire at the company’s annual meeting in May 2017, partly because of a division with the founding family. Bill Pulte Sr. immediately followed up with a letter to the board urging for an earlier departure of Dugas and blaming the executive for a host of “bad decision making” that included moving the company to Atlanta.
Pulte Sr., the largest shareholder in the company with 8 percent of the stock, mentioned specifically how much it cost the company to move the headquarters from suburban Detroit to Atlanta.

The younger Pulte wanted to clarify the family’s position on Atlanta. According to Pulte III, the family’s ownership position is worth about $527 million.
“We have been in the Atlanta community since the early 1970s,” Pulte III said. “My grandfather loves Atlanta, and we love Atlanta. We are in Atlanta to stay as the headquarters. In fact, I’m going to be spending more time in Atlanta.”
Pulte III, CEO of private equity firm Pulte Capital is also chairman of a family-owned nonprofit called the Blight Authority. He said the family intends to establish the Blight Authority of Atlanta.
“It would be a blight removal effort that our family would fund for the knock down of vacant and dangerous buildings in Atlanta,” said Pulte III, who said he has already reached out to the Atlanta community – including Georgia Tech – to replicate what the Authority has done in Detroit.
“With Richard Dugas leaving the company, we want to re-emphasize our support for Atlanta,” Pulte III said. “We are more focused in working with community members and having them select which homes they want demolished.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/n...a-to-stay.html

[Hokiehaven]

I can say, I knew someone who worked for Pulte, and they didn't have great things to say, but I like the blight removal effort, hopefully they pick it up, cause ATL could really use that

[Newsboy]

I've never been impressed with Pulte -- most of their homes are cheap prefab throw-ups so that might explain the company's "peformance."

[Serenity2019]

The Pulte neighborhoods in my City are very nice, they have very nice looking houses where I live.