Sitting on one board, let alone a string of them, is a riskier proposition these days. David Elias reports.

You are 55 and you've done the hard yards. It's time to get a life - so you quit as an executive and take on half a dozen board seats to fill the final decade of your working life. Then it blows up in your face because four people in a department you've barely heard of go off the rails, taking your entire life and reputation with them.

Why would anyone want to be a company director?

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