Dow Drizzles on LBO Parade

Thursday's shake-up atop Dow Chemical (DOW Quote) exposes one of the seamier sides of the leveraged buyout boom.

The Midland, Mich., chemical giant fired two top officials -- director and former finance chief Pedro Reinhard and executive vice president Romeo Kreinberg -- after finding they "were involved in unauthorized discussions with third parties about the potential acquisition of the company."

And that's not all. Dow CEO Andrew Liveris said in a Thursday morning statement that the company was "greatly saddened by the disrespect shown by our former colleagues." ...