Is Mike Ullman the Jay Leno of the Corporate World?

He lost his job in 2011. Now J.C. Penney JCP has asked its former CEO, Mike Ullman, to come back and save the struggling retailer. Ullman was more or less ousted in 2011 after activist investor Bill Ackman pushed for him to retire. The investor was unhappy with J.C. Penney's stock performance, which plummeted more than 60 percent during Ullman's last four years on the job. Ackman also wanted to hire Ron Johnson, a popular executive from Apple AAPL and a rising star within the retail industry. The initial decision appeared to be a popular one, but that quickly changed after sales (and J.C. Penney shares) continued to tumble. The retailer has now been forced to swallow its pride and re-hire the man it ousted for a younger, hipper executive. This is not all that different from a controversial decision that NBC -- once owned by General Electric GE, now owned by Comcast CMCSA -- made in 2004. Looking to the future, NBC decided to replace The Tonight Show host Jay Leno with Conan O'Brien. While the exact terms of the agreement have never been revealed, many believed that NBC gave Conan the show to keep him from jumping to another network. Leno more or less confirmed this report when he announced his first retirement. Unlike Ullman, Leno was at the top of his game. He was the late-night talk show leader with more than five million viewers. Ignoring this, NBC told Leno to step down. He accepted and walked away. That would have been the end of the story, but NBC executives were unwilling to let Leno go to another network. After his contract expired, they asked the comedian to host a 10:00 p.m. talk show. The concept ultimately failed but still proved to be more popular than the dramas that replaced it. Meanwhile, Conan drew 47 percent fewer viewers than his Tonight Show predecessor, prompting NBC to rethink its strategy. The network told Conan that it wanted to move his show to 12:05 a.m. to make room for a new 30-minute show for Leno. Conan rejected the offer. With no other options, NBC was forced to fire Conan. The network then asked Leno to host The Tonight Show again. According to The New York Times, Leno believed that it would be his last contract with NBC. He was right. Similarly, Ullman is only expected to serve as J.C. Penney's interim CEO. In the meantime, the ailing retailer will search for another young soul -- its very own Jimmy Fallon, if you will -- to step into the spotlight. Ullman is not the first corporate figure to get the Leno treatment. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was famously fired from the company he helped build. The Cupertino, California-based tech giant swallowed its pride and asked him to come back more than a decade later. Richard Schulze, founder and chairman of Best Buy BBY, decided to resign after failing to disclose what he knew about the scandal involving former Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn. Schulze returned to Best Buy last month, taking on the role of chairman emeritus. Howard Schultz, chairman and CEO of Starbucks SBUX, had a much less troubling journey. After willingly retiring in 2000, Schultz returned as CEO in 2008 when the company needed him most. Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis@benzingapro.com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ