Nation's CEOs Gather at Yale CEO Summit to Address How CEOs Impact Their Companies in the Post Enron World
and to honor Thomas G. Stemberg, founder of Staples with the Legend in Leadership Award

New Haven, Conn., May 30, 2006—This week’s 53rd gathering of the Yale CEO Summit of The Chief Executive Leadership Institute will celebrate the historic closure of the traumatic Enron scandal’s court verdict by examining the fair scope of responsibility assigned to the CEOs of modern global corporations. The conference, entitled “CEO Intervention: Modeling Accountability vs. Meddling Actions,” takes place at the Yale Law School June 1-2, 2006. Distinguished global corporate leaders across industries will engage in lively, candid discussions with regulators, judges, shareholder activists, scholars and even prominent personalities from the Enron scandal at this off-the-record, invitation-only leaders’ conference hosted by the Yale School of Management. Conference sponsors include: UPS, Deloitte & Touche LLP, NYSE Group, The Thomson Corporation, RHR International and Russell Reynolds Associates.

Members of the press are invited to attend the conference dinner on Thursday and the Friday lunch session. On Thursday, June 1 at 7:30 p.m., Thomas Stemberg will be presented with the Legend in Leadership Award followed by a dinner panel entitled “Are CEOs Wrong to Play Chief Marketing Officer?” The closing lunch panel on Friday, June 2 at 12:30 p.m., entitled “Public Markets & the CEO Lure to Private Equity,” will feature NYSE President Catherine Kinney, former SEC and NYSE Chairman William Donaldson, and the leaders of Bain Capital, Carlyle Group and Odyssey Partners. Seating is limited and advance registration is required.

Conference participants include CEOs and chairmen from such firms as: Starbucks, Best Buy, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, UPS, Bain Capital, Quest Diagnostics, MBIA, INVESCO, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Yellow Roadway, DDB, Russell Corporation, CarMax, Tupperware, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), and Jet Blue, along with such influential opinion leaders as: Congressman Christopher Shays, SEC Commissioner Cynthia Glassman, U.S. District Court Judge for Southern New York Jed Rakoff (of the WorldCom case), Conference Board CEO Richard Cavanaugh, NYSE President Catherine Kinney, U.S. Senate candidate Ned Lamont, CNBC anchor Liz Claman, cold war historian John Gaddis, Enron whistleblower Sherron Watkins, as well as more than eighty other distinguished leaders including university presidents, business school deans, historians, theologians, economists, psychologists, environmentalists, accountants, and attorneys.

“We are honored to welcome a group of responsible, concerned and powerful leaders who are determined to see corporate America continue to escape from the cloud of Enron-like scandals and resume emphasis on appropriate risk taking and important enterprise building,” said Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, Associate Dean of the Yale School of Management and conference organizer. “The elevated expectations for far-ranging internal accountability, sophisticated technical knowledge, and constant external engagement have created near superhuman CEO job descriptions. This conference will share the secrets of how 100 industrial titans have triumphed in such daunting roles.”

About Legend in Leadership Award Recipient Thomas G.Stemberg
Thomas Stemberg, the widely respected founder and former CEO of Staples and current venture partner with Highland Capital Partners, will be presented with the Legend in Leadership Award by Starbucks CEO Jim Donald.

Mr. Stemberg is best known for pioneering the office superstore industry with the opening of the first Staples store in 1986. Under his leadership, Staples became one of six companies in U.S. history to reach $3 billion in sales within ten years. He propelled Staples’ business growth through a store expansion program, a delivered office products business, a growing international presence, and strategic acquisitions such as direct marketer Quill Corporation. In addition, the company entered the world of e-commerce in 1998 with Staples.com. A Boston native, Stemberg was voted one of the city's most influential people.

Past winners of this award include financier, regulator William Donaldson, Vanguard’s Jack Bogle, PepsiCo’s Roger Enrico, Coca-Cola’s Don Keough, Jim Kelly of UPS, Richard Teerlink of Harley Davidson, Charlotte Beers of J. Walter Thompson, The Home Depot’s Bernard Marcus, Kemmons Wilson of Holiday Inns, Quincy Jones, and Terry Semel of Yahoo!

The Chief Executive Leadership Institute, the world's oldest CEO college, is part of the Yale School of Management. It was founded in 1989 to provide original research on leadership and lively current educational forums through peer-driven learning for accomplished leaders across sectors. To learn more about the CELI, visit: http://celi.som.yale.edu/

For an interview with Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, or to register for the Legend in Leadership Award dinner or the closing lunch, contact Tabitha Wilde: 203-432-6010, tabitha.wilde@yale.edu or Bonnie Blake: 203-432-0867; bonnie.blake@yale.edu