General Motors Corp. Interim Chairman Kent Kresa says the company has tapped Ed Whitacre Jr. former chairman and CEO of AT&T Inc. to become the new chairman of the U.S. automaker once it completes its bankruptcy reorganization. GM says Whitacre and Kresa along with president and CEO Frederick A. Henderson and board members Philip A. Laskawy Kathryn V. Marinello Erroll B. Davis Jr. and E. Neville Isdell will serve as the nucleus of the new GM board.
GM has launched a selection process to identify four more directors who will serve on the board of the reorganized company. The Canadian government and the new United Auto Workers Voluntary Employee Benefit Association will each nominate one director bringing the total number of directors for the company to 13.
On June 1 GM announced that the companys three domestic subsidiaries had filed voluntary petitions for relief under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The companys reorganization plan includes selling substantially all of its global assets to a new entity that will take on the GM name. That sale is subject to the approval of the court.
The appointment of Ed Whitacre as chairman represents a very auspicious beginning for the new GM" Kresa says. We look forward to working with him to complete the reinvention of GM and maximize the enormous potential of this new enterprise." Kresa will continue to serve as interim chairman until Whitacre takes over the helm of the U.S. automaker.
Whitacre 67 was chairman and CEO of AT&T Inc. and its predecessor companies from 1990 to 2007. During his tenure which began with Southwestern Bell Whitacre led the company through a series of mergers and acquisitions. One of the more prominent acquisitions was AT&T.
Whitacre retired from AT&T in 2007 handing over the reins of the company to Randall Stephenson. AT&T (NYSE: T) subsequently relocated headquarters to Dallas in 2008. Whitacre maintains an office in San Antonio.
Following his retirement Whitacre accepted a teaching position on the business faculty at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin Texas near San Antonio.
I am honored to be able to serve GM at this critical juncture and take part in its reinvention" Whitacre says.
GM was founded in 1908. The company now manufactures cars and trucks in 34 countries. Its headquarters are in Detroit.
*This article is from the San Antonio Business Journal
