When the company was privately held and solely owned by UPS management and their heirs, there were no reports regarding UPS stock.
I knew Jim Kelly when he was the North Central Region Manager and he was a down to earth operator and knew the business. From there he went on to Corporate Labor for awhile. From my management perspective, there was going to be a strike, no matter what UPS would have agreed upon with the union. The sticking point in the 97 strike was creating a pension plan for UPS employees only (sound familiar) from the company side.
Carey was on the bandwagon for "Part time America" doesn't work. So the company agreed to 22.3 jobs, which some employees are happy with and others hate.
Jim Kelly took this company public and made a lot of money for ALL UPS investors. The stock was afforded to all UPS employees, prior to going public, which to some management people was a concern. However, UPS management are awarded their stock based on recommendations of the Division Manager, as part of their compensation. Whereas, non UPS management employees were able to purchase stock. So all UPS shareholders enjoyed the stock split and doubling their stock portfolio within the year.
So, do I think Kelly was the worst CEO - absolutely not.
I know Mike Eskew was not the most popular in his tenure as CEO, however, he did expand UPS's portforlio for our customers.
Since going public, UPS has acquired so many other companies, and the ones that are working for us are internationally. Now that took some vision, to know the domestic competition was not going away, as a matter of fact, other carriers really stepped up to the plate to get our business. It's been quite a few quarters, where the International side of the business brought in the earnings, rather than our domestic core business.
Now Scott Davis does worry me, as he's already made the statement that he's not in love with a Triple AAA rating for the company, which UPS has always been regarded as one of the most financially sound companies in the business world.
And I know the stock has not done well, however, based on the economy over the last few years, I will be weathering the storm.