Bill Johnson, the man who was chief executive officer of Duke Energy Corp. for hours after its $17.8 billion takeover of Progress Energy Inc., said he was fired after Duke had “buyer’s remorse” about the deal.
Tensions flared between top executives about costs associated with the transaction after the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission demanded more concessions, Johnson testified to the North Carolina Utility Commission in a hearing today. Duke CEO James Rogers “explored every avenue to get out of the merger,” he said.
