Directorship Issues First National Ranking in Corporate Governance

Business Wire, Sept 6, 2007

CalPERS Tops List as the Most Influential of The Directorship 100

BOSTON -- The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) was named the most influential player in corporate governance by Directorship in the magazine's inaugural ranking of corporate governance leaders. The $250-billion retirement fund has helped put executive pay on the agenda and railed against poor governance, particularly in light of poor performance.

"No other person or institution has had such a continuous and profound effect on the boardroom," says Jeffrey M. Cunningham, a Fortune 100 board director and chairman and editor in chief of Directorship, the leading magazine for corporate directors and executives. "In the corporate governance world, there are three main factions - one side makes the rules, another monitors and enforces, and finally directors need to understand and implement. Knowing who has the greatest influence is particularly important to directors as their understanding of corporate governance determines how they must guide and supervise their companies."

The prestigious list appears in the September 2007 issue of Directorship being mailed to subscribers today. The rankings were completed by a distinguished board of advisers, reader surveys, and the editors of Directorship.

The Top 20 ranked by influence is:

1. CalPERS Dennis Johnson and Fred Buenrostro

2. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox

3. Chairman, House Committee on Financial Services Barney Frank

4. Warren Buffett

5. Delaware Courts Chancellor William B. Chandler III

6. Ralph Whitworth, Relational Investors

7. Patrick McGurn, Institutional Shareholder Services

8. Ira Millstein, Weil, Gotshal & Manges

9. Paul Sarbanes and Michael Oxley

10. Richard Breeden, former SEC Chairman

11. Jeffrey Skilling

12. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's Kayla Gillan

13. New York Stock Exchange's John Thain and Nasdaq's Robert Greifeld

14. Richard Ferlauto, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

15. Martin Lipton, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

16. SEC ex-chairmen: Harvey Pitt, Arthur Levitt and William Donaldson

17. Charles Elson, University of Delaware

18. Margaret "Peggy" Foran, Pfizer

19. Nell Minow, The Corporate Library

20. Damon Silvers, AFL-CIO

The Directorship 100 also identified 80 other outstanding influentials, grouped by their areas of expertise, to complete the first national ranking of the most important influencers of corporate governance today. The complete list is published in the magazine and will be posted to the Directorship website when it relaunches. An electronic copy of the list is available upon request by emailing Judy Warner at jwarner@directorship.com or calling her at (617) 399-3046.

About the publication

Directorship is a bimonthly magazine written for corporate board members and C-level executives. It is owned and published by NewsMarkets LLC, a privately held media company in Boston, which produces content, events, and certification programs to support the needs of senior executives and board members. Content contributors are the business elite and global thought leaders in the areas of management, governance, and strategy.