Ovitz consoles Shugart
By Jeff Pelline
Staff Writer, CNET NEWS.COM
July 22, 1998, 8:40 a.m. PT
A day after he was ousted as Seagate Technology's chief executive, Al Shugart said he was receiving support from rank-and-file workers, IBM executives--and former Disney president Michael Ovitz.
According to Shugart, Ovitz sent him a fax of a Web page reporting his ouster, with the hand-written message "been there, done that." Ovitz lost his job at Disney last year. It also read "Don't get mad, get even." It also suggested the two get together later this summer.
Shugart, 67, added that his computer has been flooded with email from rank-and-file workers as well. The executive, a founder of Seagate and pioneer of the computer disk drive, said he already has received two requests to join company boards and review business plans.
"I have so many things to do," he said, still fielding phone calls from his office in Scotts Valley, California. No assistant was there; he answered the phone "Shugart."
Shugart reiterated that was surprised at being ousted. "I thought I was doing a really good job," he said. "You don't mind being fired if you really screwed up." Shugart began his career with Seagate in 1979 after working at IBM.
Shugart said he plans to keep his office at Seagate's low-slung headquarters building until he can find another office in the Santa Cruz area--perhaps in two or three weeks. He also is negotiating a severance package with Seagate. When that's complete, he plans to resign from the board.
Launching a start-up is not out of the question for Shugart, either. "Anything I do has to be fun, and it has to do some good," he said. |
