Good to Great

This morning I started reading a new book called “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, the same author who wrote the famour  “Built to Last’. The author went about explaining his methodology and structure of this book and identified companies that made the leap from good results to great results and sustained those for at least 15 years.
After going through the graphs, it made more sense but I was startled by reviewing the list of companies that Jim Collins used to do his research and where they stand this day.
Good-to-Great Cases used by author
1. Abbott
2. Circuit City (18.50 Times the market*, 1982-1997)
3. Fannie Mae (7.56 Times the market*, 2084-1999 )
4. Gillette
5. Kroger
6. Nucor
7. Philip Morris
8. Pitney Bowes
9. Walgreens
10. Wells Fargo
* Ratio of cumulative stock returns relative to the general stock market

We are now in 2010 and just reviewing above list, its easy to see from the first glance that:
1.Circuit City Stores, Inc. (Pink Sheets: CCTYQ) was an American retailer in brand-name consumer electronics, personal computers, entertainment software, and (until 2000) large appliances. The company opened its first store in 1949 and pioneered the electronics superstore format in the 1970s.^[1] Circuit City liquidated its final American retail stores in 2009 following a bankruptcy filing and subsequent failure to find a buyer. The “Circuit City” brand is now owned by Systemax, which uses the brand to sell electronics as an online retailer. On May 11, 2009, Systemax bought the brand, trademark and e-commerce business at an auction from Circuit City Stores, Inc. Systemax had earlier acquired CompUSA and TigerDirect which now operate as online retailers. (Source – wikipedia.com)

2. Fannie Mae – On June 16, 2010, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced their stocks would be delisted from the NYSE. The Federal Housing Finance Agency directed the delisting after Fannie’s stock traded below $1 a share for over 30 days. Their stocks will continue to trade on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board as long as there is trader interest. Reports from the finance agency specified that the delisting had nothing to do with current or future company performance. Source – wikipedia.com

3.  Gillette – On October 1, 2005, Procter & Gamble finalized its purchase of The Gillette Company. As a result of this merger, the Gillette Company no longer exists. Its last day of market trading – symbol G on the New York Stock Exchange – was September 30, 2005.
Source – Wikipedia.com

What do you think might have happened? Definitely thought proviking to see these awesome great companies change tracks.