“Inept boards stacked with brainless trough swillers” is a tad rough. These days (last 20 years) the job of being a Board member of a public company is not easy and you are liable right down to your children’s shoes if you stuff up badly.
The prudential rules are spelt out in great legal detail and you can be sure they were followed........however there is no IQ test for Board membership.
What the Board has to do is protect the assets by managing risk. In this case they probably thought they were managing “PC Gender risk” (trademark sunfish) by appointing a female which would earn them a few pats on the head. They balanced that risk against appointing a person with no industry experience whatsoever and probably a reputation as a head kicker as well.
’This time they called it wrong - which happens, but at least they had the balls to realise their mistake after two years and cut their losses, knowing that they would be pilloried (shock horror!) by the old girls for having the temerity to find fault with one of their darlings.
To put that another way, you are paid a lot as a CEO because your lifespan is the same as a racehorse or professional sportsman - one day a hero, the next, pet food.