George Richard "Rick" Wagoner, Jr. (born February
9, 1953) is an American businessman and former
Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of
General Motors.
Wagoner resigned as
Chairman and CEO at General Motors on March 29, 2009, at the
request of the White
House
. The latter part of Wagoner's tenure as CEO
of General Motors found him under heavy criticism as the market
valuation of GM went down by more than 90% and the company losing
more than $82 billion
USD
Family and education
Wagoner
was born in Wilmington,
Delaware
and grew up in Richmond
, Virginia
. He
graduated from
John
Randolph Tucker High School there, where he was named "Best All
Around" student in his graduating class.
He received a B.A. in Economics
from Duke
University
in 1975,
where he also played basketball.
He then
attended Harvard
Business School
, from which he received an MBA
in 1977. He is married and has three adult sons.
Wagoner is
a member of the boards of trustees of Duke University, Detroit Country Day School
, the Board of Dean's Advisors of the Harvard Business
School, and the Board of Directors of Catalyst. He
is a member of The Business Council, The Business Roundtable,
Detroit Renaissance Executive Committee, and the Secretary of
Energy Advisory Board.
General Motors
After Harvard, he joined GM as an analyst in the treasurer's
office.
In
1981, he became treasurer of GM's Brazil
subsidiary
and later served as managing director.
In 1992, he was named GM's chief financial officer, in 1994 he
became executive vice president and/or president of North American
Operations, and in 1998 he was named president and chief operating
officer.
After GM lost $30 billion during a single three-year stretch in the
early 1990s, Wagoner and Chairman
John F. "Jack" Smith Jr. forced GM "back
to basics" to battle "30 years of management mistakes" that left
him with little room to maneuver.
Chief Executive Officer
Wagoner became president and chief executive officer in June 2000
and was elected chairman on May 1, 2003. Under his leadership, GM
suffered more than $85 billion in losses.
As CEO, Wagoner focused on highly profitable but fuel guzzling
sport utility vehicles and
light trucks. In an interview, Wagoner
stated that the worst decision of his tenure at GM was "axing the
EV1 electric-car program and not putting the
right resources into
hybrids. "It
didn’t affect profitability," Wagoner claimed, "but it did affect
image".
In April 2005 Wagoner took back personal control of GM's North
American car division in light of its poor performance. In early
June 2005 Wagoner announced that GM in the United States would
close several plants and shed 25,000 employees (17% of GM's U.S.
workforce) by 2008. The cuts will result in GM production reducing
output by one million cars and trucks (from 6 million to 5
million).
In the
Automotive
industry crisis of 2008–2009, Wagoner came under renewed
pressure as GM sought financial support from the U.S. government in
an attempt to avoid bankruptcy. During hearings for government
loans to the Big Three Automakers, Wagoner,
Alan Mulally and
Robert Nardelli were criticized for flying
to Washington, D.C. in corporate jets. For a subsequent meeting,
the three CEOs drove from Detroit to Washington by hybrid
cars.
The BBC reported that Wagoner was popular among GM employees and
reporters. However, it cites that he lacked the "ruthless streak
needed to make the tough decisions required to bring GM back from
the brink of bankruptcy." While analysts have praised Wagoner for
operational improvements, cost cutting moves and the appointment of
Bob Lutz to oversee product execution,
others criticized him for his incremental approach to change,
largely as he resisted making the drastic cuts demanded by that of
the market and US government. Throughout the first months of 2009,
Wagoner argued that a bankruptcy would be more costly than a
government bailout. However, there remained lingering doubts that
he was implementing the restructuring moves necessary to remain
viable in the future without further government loans.
G.M. Chief Is Said to Be Resigning in Deal With U.S.
GM CEO Wagoner to step down at White House
request GM chairman to leave US car maker Officials: Auto bailout plan forces out General
Motors' CEO
On March 29, 2009, Wagoner agreed to immediately resign his
position as GM Chairman and CEO, as part of the Obama
administration deal to provide GM with further short-term
financing. The following day, the US government rejected GM's
initial restructuring plan and gave the company 60 days to come
with new proposal or be forced into bankruptcy.
G.M. Chief Is Said to Be Resigning in Deal With U.S.
GM CEO Wagoner to step down at White House
request GM chairman to leave US car maker Officials: Auto bailout plan forces out General
Motors' CEO. He has been replaced as CEO by
Fritz Henderson, who had been serving as
GM's President and Chief Operating Officer.
See also
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