PulteGroup Responds To Founder's Complaints

PulteGroup Inc. said the campaign by Founder Bill Pulte, his grandson and Director Jim Grosfeld to remove management is "misguided," and not in the best interest of shareholders. The home builder's statement came in response to Pulte's letter to the board of directors, which was released late Monday, expressing his disappointment that Chief Executive Richard Dugas wasn't leaving the company until he retires effective May 2017. The company said the reason it didn't renominate Grosfeld as director, after adding him to the board in December, is because of "a number of actions over the past several weeks that we believe are inconsistent with acceptable norms of corporate governance and without due regard for the interests of all shareholders." Among some of the actions were his demand for Dugas to resign, his circumventing of the governance process by failing to report the demand to the board and his unwillingness to help the company unless his personal demands were met. The stock dropped 2% in morning trade. It has slumped 5.3% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 0.7%.