Corporate Undertaker

The ultimate suit. This guy never smiles.

No, it's not what you get when a big conglomerate buys a chain of funeral homes. Instead, it's a nickname for the people who come in when a company hits the skids. The term applies to the bankruptcy and liquidation experts who appear on the scene when it's time to extract as much value as possible out of a dying business.

You own an airline. Fuel prices spiked two years ago and never really came back down. You've been burning cash for awhile. You've decided that bankruptcy is on the horizon (again). In walks the corporate undertaker.

His or her firm will look over your books to decide the best course of action. Maybe sell off parts and try to make a go of it as a smaller, more focused brand. Maybe merge with another airline. Maybe restructure in bankruptcy. Maybe just liquidate.