Mills CEO Steps Down

Updated from 10:01 a.m. EDT

Struggling mall developer Mills Corp.(MLS Quote) announced Monday that its much-criticized chief executive, Larry Siegel, has finally stepped down.

Siegel is known as the creative visionary behind Mills' numerous development projects that blended retail with entertainment. But he has also been criticized by some industry watchers as the man primarily responsible for driving Mills' share price into the ground.

Under his watch, Mills' stock dropped from a high of more than $65 last summer to a close of $16.71 Friday. In the past year, the company has been besieged by accounting issues, along with controversy surrounding its ongoing Meadowlands Xanadu development, where costs continue to rise and the stabilized return on the project is looking much less profitable than the picture that Siegel initially pitched to investors. ...