I didn't know brother George spoke the language and drank the water. The only deal he consumated worth remembering was the one at the Tokoyo Hilton--but he ain't talking.
Now that you bring it up, I believe the "brother" initiated both the Hitachi (5/92) and Rohm (4/93) relationships and maybe others I'm unaware. Both relationships were expanded after his passing of the CEO mantel. So OK, he deserves a little credit.
Other major deals came after the brother, like Toshiba (7/95), Fujitsu (12/95), Samsung (date unclear), ULVAC (4/97), and Tripartite (4/97). I'll let the brother wrestle with the CEO under whose helm these events occured for credit.
As for negotiating prowless, who knows? Mistakes were made that could have sped things up. I recall Sikes lamenting at the annual meeting that developing the stuff in Japan rather than at Ramtron took longer for many reasons, one was translational. Perhaps the brother was thinking nuclear and the stuff was safer if kept off shore.
Anyway, the brother violates one of the principles I think all public companies should abide--That's board members should not serve as paid consultants to the same company. A simple thing that can draw ethical questions; e.g., The brother serves on the Compenstion Committee, The company's five year cumulative total performance was down 67% while the S&P semiconductor index was up over 700%. (proxy statement, 5/29/97, p. 16), yet there is no evidence stock options are linked to financial performance not to mention Rohm is about 1 year over due, etc. It makes one wonder if some give and take isn't going on, especially since the brother looses the options he's been praying for after he's off the board. I'm not starting any rumors, but I can read, and I can wonder, and I'm thinking that some new blood on the board, with some bigger masters than Benton and the Gang might not be all that bad for Ramtron and its stockholders. |
