CEOs are leaders of companies expected to lead the firm, its employees, and shareholder’s interests. However, ever so often, deceptive, racist, or sketchy executives make their way to the top of the corporate ladder. Investors and creditors end up losing money, employees their jobs, and in some cases, the general public is afflicted as the scandal comes to light. We take a look at some of the worst CEOs in recent history.

1. Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos

Fig.1: Elizabeth Holmes on the cover of Forbes (source: Forbes)

Theranos, the health tech company was supposed to revolutionise rapid blood testing through a smaller and more efficient machine. However, the company couldn’t design a working product after billions were poured into the company run by then 19-year old Elizabeth Holmes. Holmes used traditional testing machines to publish the results of blood tests. Her personal net-worth dropped from $4.5 billion to virtually 0.

2. Martin Shkreli

Fig.2: Martin Shkreli smiling in court (source: npr)

The former hedge fund manager and ex-CEO of pharmaceutical firm Retrophin and Turing Pharmaceuticals. During his tenure as CEO, the firm acquired the license to manufacture Daraprim, an anti-parasitic drug and raised the price from USD $13.5 to USD750 for each dose of medication. Shkreli was sentenced to serve 7 years in prison and over $7 million in fines for securities fraud in an unrelated incident. He was also fined $64.6 million under a civil suit.

3. Bernie Madoff

Fig.3: Bernie Madoff, ex CEO of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities

Bernie Madoff was once the chairman of the NASDAQ, ran the largest ponzi scheme costing investors losses above $64 billion. Madoff was accused of making false records of accounts from the 1970s until 2008 for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. He also employed several family members to important positions in the company. Madoff passed away in 2021 while serving a 150-year prison sentence. In earlier years, several analysts and investors informed the SEC that it was mathematically impossible to achieve the returns Madoff was claiming to receive.

4. Warren Anderson and Union Carbide India

Fig.4: Warren Anderson, ex-CEO of Union Carbide India

At the time of the Bhopal Gas disaster, Warren Anderson was the CEO of Union Carbide Corporation. In 1984, the gas leak from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh resulted in the deaths of thousands, and injuries in the hundred thousands. Anderson was charged with manslaughter as the CEO of the company, but failed to appear for court hearings as he fled the country. India issued a warrant for his arrest in 2009, which the US refused. Anderson passed away in 2014.

5. Enron and Anderson Accounting

Fig.5: Enron office (Source: Investopedia)

Enron was one of the biggest audit failures in accounting history with Anderson Accounting, now known as Accenture, complicit in poor reporting and exploiting financial loopholes. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and the company’s share price crashed from over $90/share to less than $1/share by November 2001. Arthur Anderson had to rebrand to Accenture considering the firm lost all its clients and customers after the scandal emerged.

Fig.6: Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon (source: Forbes)

Special mentions go out to John Schnater, the racist ex-CEO of Papa Johns, Jeff Bezos, the richest CEO in the world who underpays his employees, and Dick Flud, the CEO of Lehman Brothers at the time the firm filed for bankruptcy with over $600 billion in debts.

If you like this story, don’t forget to check out the worst stock market predictions of all time.