He refuses to quit working. I am his daughter who he named the COO only four months ago. We have lost key people in the corporation in the last few months because his behavior is unstable. He is spending money faster than the company can keep up. I am the POA but no one in my family is willing to take the proper steps to have him step down. He has been put on a medicine that mom seems to think has cured him( we know that is not possible) I am overwhelmed . I depended heavily on the CFO and also the VP of another division. I think there is a chance that they would come back if dad is out of the picture. Please help.
If my assumptions are correct then there are steps that can be taken.
The board of directors (who are not employees of the company but are representatives of the shareholders, and by the way are answerable to the shareholders for the actions of the CEO) can oust the CEO by a vote. If they are not sure that he can run the company well enough, they can remove him as CEO.
As majority shareholder he still has power. In fact, he can replace the board of directors. He does have voting power over major issues of the company but will have no say in the day to day operations of the company. I'm sure he's aware of this power. This is a much more dangerous position. In this case, if he is the majority shareholder, someone (his family) needs to have him deemed legally incompetent to run the company. This involves doctors, and probably lawyers as well as a LONG process if he is not willing to see the damage he is doing to the company.
Best case scenario would be for his family members and potentially even the board of directors (hopefully people he has a respect for and a long relationship with) show him that his behavior is hurting the company and that he needs to appoint someone to make decisions for him.
In the UK there is a "mental capacity" law to help companies in EXACTLY this situation. In the US there is nothing specific for this problem, but of course someone legally incompetent to run their affairs cannot run a company. Since YOU are family, you can take this action to have him tested...are you willing to step up?
Angel