Ex-Panelist at NYSE to Quit GE’s Board

A member of General Electric Co.’s board of directors is stepping down amid criticism over the role he played as a director of the New York Stock Exchange in giving a lucrative retirement and severance package to former Chairman Richard Grasso.

Kenneth Langone, a financier who co-founded Home Depot Inc., has decided not to stand for reelection to GE’s board this year, company officials said Tuesday.

“He stated that he would be energetically defending his work at the New York Stock Exchange and that he didn’t want his issues to affect GE’s relationships or be a distraction to the board and the shareholders,” said Gary Sheffer, a GE spokesman.

Langone, who was on GE’s board for six years, declined to comment through a spokesman.

Langone was among the parties sued in May by New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer over Grasso’s $187.5-million compensation package. Langone headed the NYSE’s compensation committee when Grasso received his biggest payouts.

Spitzer is seeking the return of at least $100 million from Grasso, and $18 million from Langone, claiming the two conspired to hide information from the NYSE board’s compensation committee in approving Grasso’s pay package.

Langone has denied allegations that he misled directors about Grasso’s pay and has vowed to fight them in court.

The NYSE said in a confidential report released last week that Grasso took advantage of a high turnover of board members to push through his contracts, and placed close friends on the compensation committee, including Langone. It also said board members failed to properly monitor his activities.

Langone spokesman Jim McCarthy said last week that Langone believed the report helped his case, as it detailed breakdowns in the board’s approval of Grasso’s pay package after Langone had left the board’s compensation panel.

Jeffrey Immelt, GE’s chief executive, praised Langone’s work as a GE director.

“Ken Langone has served GE with great energy, dedication and loyalty,” Immelt said in a statement. “He has been a highly insightful and constructive member of the GE Board. He has been a good friend to me and I value our relationship.”

Langone joined GE’s board in February 1999 when Jack Welch was GE’s chief executive. He serves on its audit committee and nominating and corporate-governance panel and earlier served on the management development and compensation committee, which approves pay for GE’s top executives.

His replacement has not been chosen.