The Fourth Worst CEO of 2012 is...

Mark Pincus, CEO of Zynga, is my number four pick for the worst CEO of 2012. Pincus saw an incredible exodus of top executive talent leave the company during 2012, driven out by a combination of imperial ways and unclear strategic direction. The year included bad acquisitions (already written down by 50%), a decrease in paying customers, and a total collapse in stock price. The maker of Farmville is in deep trouble, and CEO Pincus deserves full responsibility.

Check back tomorrow for the third worst CEO of 2012...

The Fifth Worst CEO of 2012 is...

 

Over the last dozen years, I have studied failure and leader's career ending mistakes and shared my list of the "worst" CEOs of the year.

For 2012, in the number five spot (or the "best" of the worst) is Rodrigo Rato, the former CEO of Spanish banking giant, Bankia. Formed via merger of seven failing banks, Rato's job was to right the ship. Instead, he touted the stock to hundreds of thousands of hapless small investors while overseeing what became a surprise 3 billion euro loss. He's now under investigation for fraud, and resigned in disgrace.

Check back tomorrow for the fourth worst CEO of 2012.

Worst CEOs of 2012: Dishonorable Mention

There were two prominent CEOs that did not have good years at all, but for different reasons, just missing out on making the list: Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Andrew Mason of Groupon. These twenty-something Internet entrepreneurs saw their stock price collapse not long after going public, an embarrassing way to begin "grown up" life. Zuckerberg has created a dictatorship at FB, keeping control of the company firmly in his hands despite owning just a small percentage of the company via the joys of dual stock structure. Mason hasn't figured out how to make Groupon profitable. But there are enough hopeful signs to keep them firmly on the watch list for next year, including FB's strong recent moves to mobile and Groupon's unwillingness to accept the status quo.

Where are they now? Update on the worst CEOs of 2011

Last year my list of worst CEOs included a college president who has been indicted, co-CEOs who have stepped out of the corner offices, and the man who executed one of the worst acquisitions since AOL Time Warner, among others. Let's take a look at what happened to these leaders who couldn't lead since landing on my list one year ago.