Mr. Remarkable

Love him or loathe him, Ed Whitacre is a remarkable man. He will soon have what so many of us don't: a legacy.

Now that he has announced his retirement — this time supposedly for good — people may step back from the domineering steamroller of an image he cultivated in order to reassemble his beloved AT&T and look with more historical perspective at his rise from the engineering department to the leadership positions he sought through a 44-year career. They may still love or loathe what they see, but they won't be able to deny he was accomplished.

Once people get past his nauseating compensation package — and that may take a while — they will see a man who walked away with nothing left undone. But is he done? His legacy on June 3 will certainly be his Humpty Dumpty act with AT&T, but Whitacre has another rare and envious opportunity. At age 65, with presumably good health and hundreds of millions of dollars at his disposal, he can create a second legacy. Many of us walk off into the sunset to fiddle in the garden and do, perhaps, a little volunteer work. Guys like Whitacre can continue to change the world.

It's nobody's business what he does with his money or his time after working his tail off for 44 years. But people don't mind their own business here in the U.S. of A., and they'll be watching. It might feel like a huge dose of Pepto-Bismol to see him doing good things with his “opportunity.” He says he'll be more civically active in retirement, reportedly interested in water (presumably the quality thereof), schools and highway congestion — all good places to start a second legacy.

As Whitacre leaves filled with pride in his accomplishments, it will be up to Randall Stephenson, the new CEO, to protect Whitacre's legacy — not because of a sense of loyalty to Whitacre, but a sense of his own destiny. Whitacre's legacy is grand, but Randall must make it good. Legacies can change over time. That's why it's always good to have a backup — if you can afford it.