Take-Two's Paul Eibeler Named Worst CEO of 2005

A bad year for Take-Two Interactive just got a little worse.

MarketWatch, a financial publication, has named Take-Two boss Paul Eibeler as the "Worst CEO of the Year." Of Eibeler, senior MarketWatch columnist Herb Greenberg writes:

"...considering how absolutely out-of-control his company appears to be, and how poorly he has executed, I'm proud to announce that this year's winner of the Worst CEO of the Year award goes to none other than Paul Eibeler of Take-Two Interactive..."

"Eibeler... has done such a poor job... that Take-Two has missed its own earnings guidance for multiple quarters. So far this year it has sliced earnings guidance by more than 60%... after the company's hot-selling game, Grand Theft Auto, was given the dreaded 'adult' rating... The company has since suffered a series of setbacks on the rollouts of newer games - a perennial problem at Take-Two that appears to be getting worse. In the end, the buck stops with the guy at the top and at Take-Two that would be Paul Eibeler. Congratulations, Paul! (To shareholders: condolences.)"

Greenberg actually spares Eibeler a repetition of many of the nasty details of Take-Two's rough ride in 2005. No mention of the repeated corporate lying about the embedded Hot Coffee material; no mention of the ongoing FTC investigation of Take-Two's marketing practices; or the fact that the mismanagement and dishonesty surrounding the Hot Coffee scandal was the likely tipping point in this year's unprecedented slew of video game legislation.