CBS's Martin Shea '68

Investor relations executives are the people who communicate with shareholders and analysts about a company's financial performance. In a post-Enron world, it seems as if the job may have gotten a bit tougher. Not so, says Martin Shea '68, executive vice president for investor relations at CBS Corporation.

Shea, who grew up in Hartford and majored in education in the College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions, says his job has actually gotten easier as the result of relatively recent legislation, like Sarbanes-Oxley, that regulates the disclosure of financial information. "There's a set of ground rules, now," Shea says, "and everybody adheres to them. There are regulations on how you manage information and that makes it easier."

Shea, who previously held investor relations positions at Paramount and Viacom, likes the part of his job that involves informing people about CBS's various businesses. "Maybe it's because I majored in education," he says, "but I like correcting misconceptions and making the story a little more understandable." Of course, it doesn't hurt that his subject matter involves popular TV series like CSI and Survivor, or special broadcasts like the Super Bowl and the Oscars. "It would be a lot harder to talk about widgets or toothpaste," Shea admits.

In 2003 Institutional Investor named Shea the number one–ranked investor relations officer for the media industry. Investor Relations Magazine gave him the same ranking across all industries. Asked why he thinks he received those ratings, Shea says, "I think it's because analysts and shareholders appreciate the fact that I return their phone calls. A lot of investor relations people don't do that."