Calls for Anglo American CEO to Step Down

Cynthia Carroll

(IDEX Online News) – Cynthia Carroll, the chief executive of Anglo American, may be fighting to hold onto her position with shareholders calling on her to resign after a drop in the value of the company’s shares.

According to a report in The Daily Telegraph newspaper, shares in the miner are around 20 percent lower than when Carroll took on the role of CEO in 2007 and some 45 percent lower than their peak in May 2008.

The newspaper cited worried shareholders who fear that the company’s poor performance “has made it vulnerable to an opportunistic takeover.”

One of its largest owners told The Daily Telegraph, "The company is suffering from bad execution, a poor strategy, and a crisis of confidence in the leadership. We haven't been happy for a while but the last set of results was the coup de grâce."

Anglo American is set to gain an 85-percent stake in De Beers following the government of Botswana’s decision not to increase its share in the mining company.