Walgreen CFO busted for drink driving again

We sympathise with the stress of running finance in any business at the moment, but Wade Miquelon, CFO of US retail giant Walgreen, must be wondering how many corporate lives he has left.

Miquelon was arrested in September for driving drunk and with a suspended licence, according to dailyfinance.com, having been arrested a year earlier for being drunk behind the wheel. He was placed on supervision after the first incident and now faces having that supervision extended.

Dailyfinance.com points out that the Securities and Exchange Commission requires US-listed companies to disclose events relating to an executive officer that occurred during the past 10 years if deemed material to an evaluation of the ability or integrity of an officer, if the individual is facing criminal charges (excluding traffic violations and other ‘minor offences’).

“When does such an issue stop being a ‘personal matter’ and start becoming a ‘material’ one?” the website asks. “And what does it say about a person who makes such repeated mistakes? Can shareholders trust him with running the finances of their company?”

A few days after the news broke, Walgreen announced improved Q4 profits.