Mile-High Club
To: Debra Peabody, Boeing VP
From: Harry Stonecipher, Boeing CEO
Re: Stonecipher came out of retirement in 2003 to head Boeing following the blemished tenure of predecessor Philip Condit. Among other missteps, Condit was found to have entered into romantic relationships with company underlings. Stonecipher held the job for less than 18 months, however, before he, too, was shown the door — for having an affair with a female colleague. An anonymous tip led Boeing's board to investigate Stonecipher's e-mail, where they found intimate e-mails between Stonecipher and executive Debra Peabody, who later left the company herself. A week after Stonecipher was forced out for violating the company's code of conduct (which he established), his wife of 50 years filed for divorce.