Things Get Rough in Mr. Roger's Neighborhood

As reported in the current issue of The Pomerantz Monitor, Duke Energy recently acquired Progress Energy. When their proposed merger was announced 18 months ago, the two companies said that Johnson, head of Progress, would take over as chief of Duke. But hours after the deal was done on July 2, the board, dominated by continuing Duke directors, ousted Johnson and reinstalled former Duke CEO Jim Rogers in the top job. Johnson’s surprise dumping may be tempered a bit by the fact that he is due to receive up to almost $45 million in severance, pension benefits, deferred compensation, and stock awards. Utility regulators in North Carolina were investigating whether this bait and switch routine was a fraud on Progress shareholders.