William M. Pastore has resigned as president and chief executive officer of Monster Worldwide, effective immediately. In a press release, the careers and recruitment company stressed that the change was made by agreement with the board of directors.
Pastore was tapped as CEO only six months ago after founder Andrew McKelvey resigned as chairman emeritus and declined to be interviewed by a special committee of the board regarding stock-option grants.
Monster named Sal Iannuzzi chairman and chief executive officer. A former president and CEO of Symbol Technologies, he has been a member of Monster’s board since last July and has served as chairman of the executive committee since October.
Last June, Monster began an internal review of its stock option practices; the company eventually took a $340 million charge after determining that a “substantial number of stock option grants” had an incorrect exercise price.
In November, Monster fired vice president, general counsel, and secretary Myron Olesnyckyj; last month he settled civil charges and pleaded guilty to criminal charges regarding backdated stock options.