CEO’s Legacy to the Board : Honesty, Resilience or Trust? The Case of Xerox

Strong Chief Executive Officers (CEO) leave a legacy that becomes the framework of values on which the board acts. This in turn, defines corporate governance and ethical values of the firm. The central theme of this paper is to explain the dynamics of CEO's legacy to the board and its impact on subsequent CEOs, the board and the company, taking an idiosyncratic case of Xerox Inc. The case of Xerox makes us realize that the current miracle of turnaround that happened at Xerox in mid 2000s, also has some roots in the legacy that Joe Wilson, its founder CEO, left for the board. It was Joe Wilson's legacy with which the board was able to identify the new CEO, reinvent the company and retain the character of the company. The new CEO Anne Mulcahy was able to further the legacy of Wilson and made a magical turnaround of Xerox through the three values that constitute his legacy: honesty, resilience and trust. Joe Wilson's legacy was felt during the operations of the board, as the board strove for internal succession and established systems to groom employees to achieve higher responsible positions. The board trusted their founder CEO's intention and capabilities and were enamored by his honesty and resilience. The people at Xerox feel that none of the CEOs carried the legacy of Wilson, except Anne Mulcahy, who successfully brought the company back from certain demise, Joe's leadership style