Bill Brown
CEO approval rating: 30%
Company: Harris Corporation
Glassdoor company rating: 3.0 / 5.0
Tenure as CEO: 5 years
William Brown, who has been at the helm of aerospace and defense contractor Harris for nearly five years, is one of the least liked CEOs of any major company. Many employee reviews attribute the declining morale and a burgeoning culture of distrust to Brown, speculating that his chief concerns — the company’s profits and shareholders — often come at the expense of employees.
By that measure he has been successful so far. Now trading at over $90 a share, Harris stock has gained by well over 150% in value from the time Brown took over in November 2011. Brown has managed to increase the value of his company in the eyes of shareholders. However, many current and former Harris employees allege that Brown is cutting costs by getting rid of more experienced and more expensive engineers in favor of younger engineers with less experience.