Drivin' that Train

It's the end of the line for the embattled Norfolk Southern CEO

“Trouble ahead, trouble behind; And you know that notion, just crossed my mind.” - Grateful Dead.

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Alan Shaw, the CEO of Norfolk Southern, had plenty of critics gunning for him.

Activist investor Ancora Holdings won three board seats on the railroad in a May proxy battle, but it didn’t have the fire power to oust Shaw.

Cleveland Cliffs, one of Norfolk Southern’s biggest customers, said it backed Ancora’s plan to boot the CEO. Teamsters wanted Shaw’s head, too, citing, “untenable shakiness in management.” Union members were especially irate when Shaw hired a new chief operating officer and paid his former employer $25 million to waive a non-compete clause.

All that came on top of a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that decimated the town, spilling 100,000 gallons of hazardous materials and has so far cost the company $1.7 billion. But Shaw kept his job … until just this week.

What finally did him in? A personal indiscretion: He was caught in a tryst with the railroad’s Chief Legal Officer Nabanita Nag that was rife with conflicts and against the corporate ethics policy.

Oh, the steamy nights they must have had in East Palestine – a corporate Romeo and Juliet tackling their toxic mess together until their tragic end.

“Trouble ahead; A Lady in Red. Take my advice; You’d be better off dead.” – Grateful Dead. (Photo Credit: Norfolk Southern.)

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- Al Lewis