Board battle looming at GM?

Rick Wagoner may have won the Renault-Nissan battle, but the boardroom wars are far from over for General Motors' beleagured chief executive. Wall Street analysts are telling investors to brace themselves for a lengthy and bitter fight for control of the company's board of directors, led by dissident shareholder Kirk Kerkorian.

Kerkorian's right hand man in his GM adventure, Jerry York, resigned last week from the GM board, saying in his resignation letter that the board environment made it hard for directors to challenge management and that GM should have brought in advisers for the board to evaluate independently the potential benefits of an alliance with Renault and Nissan.

York is set to make another presentation to GM investors at the end of the month, this time in Las Vegas. His last such presentation, this January in Detroit, was scathingly critical of GM's turnaround strategy, and after his stint on the board, we can expect him to fire a new salvo with fresh ammunition.

Kerkorian, meanwhile, is expected by some analysts to be preparing for a proxy fight to shift the balance of power in GM's board and ultimately give Rick Wagoner the boot.

[Source: Reuters]