When a major shareholder squares up to a chief executive it is never pretty. When they square up to two chief executives something is seriously awry – especially when the second one hasn't even started the job.
On Friday, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who founded easyJet and whose family speaks for 37% of the shares, quit the board in order to wage war on the company's strategy.
He reckons the low-frills airline's expansion plans are plain wrong. The share price has largely flatlined for 10 years and there is no dividend payout despite rapid expansion. There may be something in that, though easyJet points out that compared with other airlines it is doing OK.
Regardless, Stelios has been making his anger known for some time: last year the airline's chairman and finance director walked; now chief executive Andy Harrison is also on his way. Last week Stelios launched a ferocious attack on Harrison, saying he was over-rated, and sympathising with shareholders at Ladbrokes – Harrison's next employer.
Stelios is determined to stop easyJet spending another $2bn on 59 more aircraft it is contracted to buy. He wants an extraordinary general meeting to halt the spending, and claims he has the support of other shareholders.
The extraordinary thing about this is that next month will see the arrival of a new chief executive – Carolyn McCall, currently chief executive of Guardian Media Group, publisher of the Observer – and she will walk into a ready-made row over a strategy she has had no time to review.
Stelios evidently can't wait to see whether his new chief executive agrees with his concerns, because he is "at the end of his tether".
McCall should probably adopt the brace position.
