Was DuPont’s CEO Ellen Kullman a Sacrificial Lamb?

Ed Breen, who presided over two breakups as Tyco International’s CEO before being added to DuPont’s board in February during the battle with Peltz, will serve as interim boss amid the search for a permanent replacement.

Kullman, a native of Wilmington, Delaware, DuPont’s hometown, will retire, the company said Monday in a statement.

With the news which after the regular trading closed, its shares spiked 6.1 percent.

She also won a proxy fight in May with activist investor Trian Fund Management LP and its founder Nelson Peltz. Kullman, 59, will leave effective October. 16.

Breen was named interim chairman and chief executive officer of DuPont eight months after becoming a director during the first round of a clash with Trian Fund Management LP over splitting the company.

The chemical and crop company, which is struggling with the strong United States dollar and weakening agricultural markets in Brazil and other emerging markets, slashed its earnings forecast for the second time this year. Ms Kullman transformed DuPont by shedding the auto paint and chemicals businesses and acquiring food-ingredient maker Danisco.

DuPont now sees operating earnings per share for the full year at $US2.75, down from $US3.10 forecast previously. Looking ahead, we will continue to drive productivity, and we plan to conduct a deep dive into the details of our cost structure and allocation of capital to ensure we deliver appropriate returns for shareholders. The new guidance assumes full-year currency impacts of $0.72 per share, versus the prior expectation of approximately $0.60 per share.

The company will discuss the moves in a conference call at 5 p.m. ET. Analysts had expected $3.19.

Ms Kullman’s retirement package was valued at about $US48 million as of DuPont’s most recent fiscal year end.

She said back then your little lady wasn’t done so that the corporation had more thing to do. She acknowledged as recently as last week that the price of its shares, which are down 27 percent so far this year, was “a concern”.