The CEO of Dow Chemical and his company have been grabbing a lot of headlines in recent weeks.
A couple of weeks ago,
Dow Chemical announced that it signed a 10-year agreement to be the official chemical company sponsor for the Olympics. Last month, the CEO -- along with the CEO of Dow Corning -- was named to serve on the export council that advises the president on international trade.
Last week, Liveris landed in the headlines again with an interview in SmartMoney.com.
Exerpt:
Not too long ago, Mad Money TV host Jim Cramer said Andrew Liveris might be the "single worst CEO ever to run a major company." One could see the reasons why.
Liveris, the boss of Dow Chemical (DOW: 27.25, +0.32, +1.18%), felt the firm needed to move away from commodity chemicals and toward more-profitable specialty chemicals (such as fuel additives). So in July 2008 he agreed to buy specialty-chemical maker Rohm & Haas for more than $15 billion, with financial support from a Kuwaiti joint venture. But the Kuwaitis backed out just as the global meltdown started. Liveris tried to delay the deal, but in the end Dow bought Rohm & Haas?at full price.
Liveris still has some detractors. The firm sold billions of dollars' worth of assets - -many at fire-sale prices - -and it still has $19 billion in long-term debt, says CreditSights analyst Wen Li. Liveris, 56, admits his plan isn't perfected yet. "I want to feel terrific, but there's always what you don't know." At the firm's Midland, Mich., headquarters, Liveris talked about why Dow wants to make specialty chemicals, what it can do to become green and how he makes peace with a 24-7 work schedule.
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