http://www.egmcartech.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/whitacre_edward_jr_main.jpg

GM (http://www.egmcartech.com/2009/06/09/former-att-ceo-to-become-chairman-of-new-gm/#) announced today that former chairman and CEO of AT&T Edward E. Whitacre, Jr., will become the new chairman of the ‘New Gm’ when the company is launched later this summer. In the mean time, Kent Kresa will continue to serve as interim chairman.
“I am honored to be able to serve GM at this critical juncture and take part in its reinvention,” said Whitacre.
Whitacre and Kresa, along with current board members Philip A. Laskawy, Kathryn V. Marinello, Erroll B. Davis, Jr., E. Neville Isdell and President and Chief Executive Officer Frederick A. Henderson, will serve as the New GM board. Six other members of the current board will most likely retire.

“The appointment of Ed Whitacre as chairman represents a very auspicious beginning for the New GM,” said Kresa. “We look forward to working with him to complete the reinvention of GM and maximize the enormous potential of this new enterprise.”

If I were the new owner of GM I wouldn't want any of the old idiots running my company. I don't care how much "in the business knowledge" they have.

But that's not my call to make.

If I were the new owner of GM I wouldn't want any of the old idiots running my company. I don't care how much "in the business knowledge" they have.

But that's not my call to make.

I agree. I'd bring in a fresh/entirely new perspective.
You know, people who know what kind of cars people want to buy.

1/2 the board of directors is going away, which is a very good thing. And when this guy steps in, he hopefully will clear out most of the old-school execs that drove this company into the ground.

so what are his chops? what has he done to give us an inkling that he can think on his feet and be creative as a leader?

so what are his chops? what has he done to give us an inkling that he can think on his feet and be creative as a leader?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Whitacre,_Jr.

In October 1988, Whitacre was made president and chief operating officer of Regional Bell Operating Company, Southwestern Bell Corporation. Two years later, Whitacre became chairman of the board and chief executive officer. In 1995, Southwestern Bell Corporation changed its name to SBC Communications. Whitacre led SBC through a series of mergers and acquisitions in building the largest provider of both local long distance telephone services and wireless service (through its Cingular division) in the United States. These acquisitions included Pacific Telesis (1997), SNET (1998), Comcast Cellular (1999), Ameritech (1999) and AT&T (2005), from which the post-merger company took its name, as well as the 2006 acquisition of Bell South.
[...]
BusinessWeek reported that, though the CEO of one of the largest and most influential names in telecommunications and its surrounding technology, Whitacre did not use email or have a computer in his office.[3] It has also been reported that Whitacre offered Stephenson three words of advice via text message when the executive change was announced: "Give 'em hell".

He's an Alpha Bulldog.

So this guy is good at acquiring other companies and merging them before he gets promoted to do it again.

Not sure how that makes him good to lead an autocompany..

If I were the new owner of GM

You mean we're not owners now? :mad:

This may come as a shock to some of you.. but you don't have to be an automotive enthusiast to run a car company.

Actually it does sort of come as a shock. I would think you would want somebody with some automotive experience in there. I guess my knowledge ceiling stops at the technical level. I just cant see what happens this far up the food chain. The clouds block the view...I mean, what does he do besides mergers obviously. I am serious, I am not being sarcastic. What does one in a position like that do?? I would like to know.

Do you honestly think he can do worse than the previous chairman?

You could probably throw a cigar smoking chimp in there and the company would improve.

This might be a complete shock to some, but the CEO does not in fact design the next-gen Vette, or engineer the next-gen hybrid technology. CEOs has no more to do with the success of a company than the people that he hires and the policies and priorities that he sets.

Having a CEO that has strong MANAGERIAL skills and is only passingly interested in cars is way better for GM than a car-nut that can't instruct others what to do.

Well AT&T really knows how to bilk the public out of their hard earned money... So maybe its a good thing? ;)

This might be a complete shock to some, but the CEO does not in fact design the next-gen Vette, or engineer the next-gen hybrid technology. CEOs has no more to do with the success of a company than the people that he hires and the policies and priorities that he sets.

Having a CEO that has strong MANAGERIAL skills and is only passingly interested in cars is way better for GM than a car-nut that can't instruct others what to do.


Chairman != CEO.

Chairman != CEO.

My bad.. I was looking at Whitacre's old position, in which he was indeed the Chairman and CEO of AT&T.

This may come as a shock to some of you.. but you don't have to be an automotive enthusiast to run a car company.

This may come as a shock to you but the Chairman does not run a company. He just looks after the shareholder's interests and oversees high level decisions.

Much of my family and some of my friends worked for the various Baby Bells, especially Pacific and Nevada Bell, and I know first hand how Ed Whitacre ruined the benefits of SBC (AT&T's former name)/Baby Bell retirees and tried to force employees of the companies he acquired to retire without tenure. He isn't that great of a CEO to begin with, he just raised prices of services in monopoly areas and laid off employees to make the mergers look viable.

What was so damn wrong with Kent Kresa, who was an aerospace engineer to begin with?

There is no way in hell I will buy a product from any company associated with this jackass.

My bad.. I was looking at Whitacre's old position, in which he was indeed the Chairman and CEO of AT&T.

;) I know, as mentioned above a Chairman's role is very different from a CEO's role. Some companies have them the same. GM going forward will not.

“I am honored to be able to serve GM at this critical juncture and take part in its reinvention,”

How do you translate that into russian?

Get To Know GM's New Chairman: Ed Whitacare, Jr.

http://i.usatoday.net/money/_photos/2007/07/26/whitacrex.jpg

TheGMSource - Ok, so GM has just named it's post-bankruptcy CEO and you're wondering (like I am) who Ed Whitacare, Jr. is. Well, have no fear, for we've done about as much research as a 5 minute Google search can allow and we have a brief rundown of the man expected to take the helm at the "New GM."

It seems based of Eds Wikipedia page that he's quite fond of mergers. Whitacare started in 1988 as the President and COO of SBC (although it wasn't known to be that at the time.) Whitacare seems like a man that is fond of mergers and acquisitions included Pacific Telesis (1997), SNET (1998), Comcast Cellular (1999), Ameritech (1999) and AT&T (2005).

Ed retirment from AT&T left him with quite a few nice perks, some that he won't mind having, such as up to 10 hours of AT&T's corporate jet valued at $20,000 per month. Cause you know GM ditched its own corporate fleet last year. More of what Ed is entitled to from AT&T for life:

•Automobile benefits (estimated at $24,000 annually)
•Access to AT&T's corporate aircraft, up to 10 hours of usage per month (estimated incremental monthly cost of $20,000)
•Use of AT&T office facilities and support staff
•Home security (estimated at $6,500 annually)
•Payment of applicable taxes resulting from these benefits, except for use of the aircraft (estimated at $19,000 annually)
In addition, Whiteacre has a three year consulting contract with AT&T, by which he will be paid about $1 million annually, and receive:

•Club memberships (estimated at $25,000 annually) and
•Payment of applicable taxes resulting from these benefits (estimated at $15,600 annually)
Not a bad deal, Ed. We hope you can bring your Merger skills to the General and help create a new, healthy GM.

www.thegmsource.com

New GM Chairman Whitacre admits: "I don't know anything about cars."

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/06/whitacre.jpg

Newly tapped General Motors Chairman Edward E. Whitacre, Jr. may have built AT&T into a telecommunications powerhouse, but it's fair to question whether he can help do the same for GM. You see, he isn't particularly savvy on the whole auto business thing. In his own words: "I don't know anything about cars." While he admits that cars are a new consideration for him, Whitacre doesn't see it as a much of a problem: "A business is a business, and I think I can learn about cars. I'm not that old, and I think the business principles are the same."

The 67-year-old Whitacre has until Aug. 31 – the date GM is set to exit Chapter 11 – to bone up. Maybe we shouldn't be too critical. After all, former GM engineer and current 2953 Analytics principal, Jim Hall, thinks Whitacre is "a good choice" based on his experience and in the similarities he sees between AT&T and GM:

"He was one of the guys who helped create a new AT&T that wasn't so dependent on land-line phone service. There's a parallel with General Motors. GM is not now about just making cars. It's about re-creating itself as a 21st-century car company. They have to have somebody at the top that understands they have to make a new GM."

Whitacre says he was enticed out of retirement by the Treasury Department and Steven Rattner, President Barack Obama's auto task force dealmaker. He added that the Treasury basically told him, "We need your help. It's a great company. You could be a lot of assistance to GM." Big Ed says that he is helping GM out of bankruptcy as "a public service." We hope he is a quick study.