In Focus

Mark Ernst in H&R Block(buster) Movie

I felt so bad for my editor when I wrote this article. She needed it a couple of days early and I was stuck on a topic. Who was I going to write about? February is CEO month and we've written about many of the most admired CEOs. In case you've missed them, here they are:

• Occidental Petroleum's Dr. Ray Irani
• Yahoo's Tim Koogle
• Sun Microsystem's Scott McNealy
• Cisco's John Chambers
• Amazon's Jeff Bezos
• Broadcom's Henry Nicholas
• Viacom's Sumner Redstone
• EBay's Meg Whitman
• AOL'S Steve Case
• Oracle's Larry Elison
• GE's Robert Nardelli

I thought I could do an article about Warren Buffett, CEO of stock conglomerate Berkshire Hathoway. But, Chick Susie wrote about him in the book and since the book comes out in 41 days, I didn't want to cover the same territory. Hey, her report alone is worth the price of the book. Then I thought of Yahoo's Tim Koogle. Woops. Chick Cheryl had first dibs. Up until the last minute deadline I was stuck. Until... I noticed over on Chick's Message Board there has been quite a bit of hoopla about both the Buffett and Koogle companies -- and the one "other" company they had in common this week: H & R Block. Excuse me? Henry and Richard and Yahoo?!? Stock-picking god Warren Buffett interested in H&R Block? Get out of town. Next you're going to tell me that Henry and Richard were seen out boogying with N'Sync! Or that they bet a buck on who would be the first to bungee jump. What is going on over there at the top that H&R should warrant such interest?

Ever since I was a little girl, I've always thought of H&R Block as an old fuddy-duddy company because there were these two old guys running it. Henry and Richard. Aha... guess what happened? A new guy took over January 1, 2001.

Mark A. Ernst, 42, was named president and chief executive officer of H&R Block on Jan. 1, 2001. He previously served as chief operating officer and has been a member of H&R Block's board of directors since Sept. 8, 1999. He has been with the company since 1998.

I wonder why I haven't heard this scoop from my mother. She has worked there since I was in 2nd grade and never misses a chance to give us all a tidbit on her company. She has pictures of herself with co-founders Henry and Richard. They've signed books for her, visited her office and she has never missed one of their local speeches. Unbeknownst to me, they've both moved on. Henry still serves on the board, but Richard, a cancer survivor, concentrates his energy on running his R.A. Bloch Cancer Foundation. Mom, when were you going to tell us????

But, this is all beginning to make sense now. H&R Block is growing like a late IRS tax bill and needed a spring chicken to move them into the millennium. They have been expanding their core tax-preparation service and are now able to offer full financial assistance. Their goal is to become the one-stop shop for small business accounting, mortgage loans, and financial planning in addition to helping you meet the April 15th deadline. Next thing you know, they're in bed with Yahoooooooooo!! (What would the old guys say about that?? Can't you just see Eddie Murphy in the movie?)

Just who is this Mark Ernst and would he be able hold his own opposite Eddie? Mark was formerly the senior vice president of American Express in Minneapolis. He was responsible for developing and directing the distribution of investment products. Before that, he had worked his way up through many corporate tax ladders and companies. He graduated with an accounting degree from Drake University while I was the receptionist at H&R Block in 1981. He was summa cum laude and I only say this so my mother can find something in common with him. Then he went on to get his MBA from the University of Chicago. Before joining American Express, he worked several years in the tax, investment and corporate advisory services department at Coopers & Lybrand. He and his wife, Annette, live in Mission Hills, Kansas, with their two sons.

This past week, Warren Buffett announced that his company now owns 8.4% of H&R Block. Then a few days later, Yahoo announced that they just made a deal with H&R Block to be their online tax service! It sure looks like things are Trading Places at the old man fuddy-duddy company of yore. How much can be attributed to the new young man at the helm? I don't know, I couldn't find much more on him in an Internet search. I can hardly wait to talk to my mother again to get the scoop. And next time I'm faced with a crunchy deadline, I'll remember to look first for a topic in my own backyard!