His nickname is Big Ed because he's 6'4.
He's from Texas.
And he doesn't (according to a recent statement) know anything about cars, but, "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.” said recently appointed GM Chairman Edward E. Whitacre Jr.
Whitacre Jr. comes to GM after he built AT&T
Inc. into the biggest U.S. provider of telephone service over a
43-year-career.
According to Bloomberg.com:
" Whitacre’s selection bucks more than a half-century of tradition at GM, where the only non-executives to lead the board since 1937 were interim Chairman Kent Kresa and John Smale, who held the job from 1992 through 1995. Whitacre will take the post when Detroit-based GM exits Chapter 11, perhaps by Aug. 31.
The White House said Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally’s move from planemaker Boeing Co. shows that success doesn’t hinge on automotive experience. Ford is the only major U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy."
“What was required was somebody with savvy, big-business experience that could take a company, change its management culture, make some of those tough decisions to put it on that path toward viability,” Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters at a recent briefing.
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