AS a former financial analyst, turned venture capitalist, Mr Benjamin Rosen knows who calls the shots when companies deliver unwelcome surprises - Wall Street.
Neither has the 65-year-old financier shirked his responsibilities as chairman of Compaq, a role he has held since 1983.
Last weekend, he presided over the boardroom coup which led to the resignation of Mr Eckhard Pfeiffer. Eight years ago it was Mr Rosen who installed him, after removing founder Mr Rod Canion as chief executive because of growing disappointment over the group's PC sales.
However, in recent years he has kept a low profile, despite sitting on the boards of several technology start-ups he has helped to fund and being vice-chairman of the board of trustees at the prestigious California Institute of Technology.
As a managing partner of the Sevin Rosen venture capital group, he helped found numerous other high-tech companies including Lotus Development, now part of IBM. Currently, he is engaged in the formation of a new Internet search and query service called Ask Jeeves. However, the veteran industry executive said he was happy to be returning to the front line.
But perhaps the key question is whether any new chief executive will be willing to work under a chairman who already has two notches on his belt.
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