Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2005/09/09/carly_case_rhg/
Carly Fiorina joins League of Exiles
The board that shed a thousand tears
Posted in On-Prem, 9th September 2005 21:39 GMT
Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina is the latest big name to join Steve Case's League of Extraordinary Banished Executives - otherwise known as Revolution Health Group (RHG).
For the uninitiated, RHG is where one-time high-flyers go to cool down, write a few chapters of their books and plan speaking engagements. Case, the America Online miracle man who managed to acquire Time Warner and was then urged to leave the company, started the healthcare firm in July. We're told that "RHG empowers consumers by putting them at the center of the health system, building innovative health-related companies through investments, acquisitions and partnerships."
Fiorina has invested in RHG and joined its board. As a director of RHG, Pink Slip Carly will sit with Franklin Raines, the former CEO and chairman of disgraced mortgage financier Fannie Mae; Steve Wiggins, who was pushed out of his post as chairman at Oxford Health Plans; and Colin Powell, who couldn't stomach four more years of Bush. Professional board member and Netscape worshipper Jim Barksdale also has a spot at the RHG table.
One can imagine the charming conversations that will take place at RHG planning sessions. New CEO John Pleasants, former chief of Ticketmaster, had better watch his back. This crew knows how an uncomfortable exit works from the inside.
Pleasants seems, well, pleasant enough about the challenge of managing these gigantic egos.
"I'm delighted to join an exceptional leadership team at Revolution Health Group that's applying entrepreneurial thinking, expertise and innovation to tackle one of our nation's most pressing challenges," he said. "It is widely regarded that the U.S. healthcare system has reached a critical point and is ripe for breakthrough. Revolution Health Group will be a major force in accelerating that transformation and building significant companies in the new category of consumer-driven healthcare."
And what about you, Carly?
"Revolution Health Group is driven by an exceptional vision informed by the experience of world-class entrepreneurs, business innovators and investors. I'm excited to join the board."
Sounds like Healtheon all over again, only with AOL-style customer care:
"You've got a terminal condition!" ®