NEW YORK - In the headlines this afternoon, Wall Street financier Kenneth Langone is quitting the General Electric board in an effort to shield the company from his impending legal battle.
Langone, a former director of the New York Stock Exchange, has been named in a lawsuit over the controversial pay package of former exchange Chairman Richard Grasso. New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer claims Langone should be held liable because he failed in his duty as a director. Spitzer is seeking the return of at least $100 million of Grasso's $188.5 million pay package.
Langone is co-founder and a director of Home Depot (nyse: HD - news - people ) and serves as a director at Yum! Brands (nyse: YUM - news - people ), textured nylon producer Unifi (nyse: UFI - news - people ) and security data collection company ChoicePoint (nyse: CPS - news - people ).
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