When the BusinessWeek editor recused himself from Intel coverage

Steve Shepard

Steve Shepard, the editor in chief of BusinessWeek from 1984 to 2005, writes about recusing himself from editing major Intel stories during his tenure because of his relationship with CEO Andy Grove.

Shepard writes, “Over the years, I always went to see him when I was in California, and we shared lunches and dinners in New York. We talked about technology, journalism, education, and healthcare issues, including his treatment for prostate cancer, which he had written about. He admired Business Week’s technology coverage and often incorporated material from our stories into his speeches. That, of course, didn’t stop him from complaining when he didn’t like something we wrote.

“In one of our chats, around the year 2000, I casually suggested that he ought to make a major donation to City College to name the engineering school in his honor. After all, I said, the College played a major role in his success. Besides, it was the right thing to do. I knew immediately I had crossed the line. I was always careful to keep my distance from people we wrote about, and I never had asked anyone for anything. Andy didn’t much like the idea anyway, waving me off in his gruff style with a comment about not wanting to put his name on some damn building. Still, I decided to recuse myself from editing any major stories thereafter on Intel.

“In 2004, when I was ready to announce that I was leaving Business Week to start a new graduate school of journalism at the City University of New York and Andy was about to retire as Chairman of Intel, I broached the subject again. He still said no, but he seemed more receptive, adding that Greg Williams, then president of City College, had sent him a copy of his book, a memoir about his boyhood growing up thinking he was white, only to find out he had an African-American father. Greg and I knew each other, and I mentioned that Andy had liked his book and that the two of us had conversations about the engineering school.”