CNBC
For the last year, General Motors has been under the leadership of a former telecommunications executive with no tolerance for indecision or distractions, Edward E. Whitacre Jr.
In that regard, much will feel familiar when he is succeeded next month by Daniel F. Akerson, who was making a name for himself at MCI and Nextel as Mr. Whitacre was building the empire that became AT&T.
Having held top jobs at a string of companies and more recently working for a buyout fund with a mandate to spot opportunities, Mr. Akerson has a knack for parachuting in, surveying the landscape and making operational and financial changes.
He joined the automaker’s board just over a year ago as a representative of the government and remains largely unknown within the company. An outsider, he has bristled at what he considered some of the ineffective ways of the old G.M., say people close to the board.
Mr. Akerson said Thursday that he and Mr. Whitacre “share a common vision” for G.M. and that the automaker was headed in the right direction as it reported its largest quarterly profit in six years.
As the fourth chief executive for G.M. in less than two years, Mr. Akerson will need first to sell investors on the slimmed-down company’s potential and then eliminate the government’s 61 percent ownership stake. G.M. is expected to file soon for an initial public offering that could be one of the biggest in history, after its quick bankruptcy sponsored by the government last year.
“Akerson is first rate in understanding finance, but he also is an operating guy,” said Howard Anderson, who has followed the telecommunications industry since founding the Yankee Group, a research firm, in 1970.
Mr. Anderson, now a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, named for one of G.M.’s founders, said he expected Mr. Akerson to put more fight into G.M., which for decades has watched smaller, aggressive companies steal its market share and profits.
“The world is divided into defenders and attackers, and G.M. has been a defender,” Mr. Anderson said. “Akerson has run attackers. He is going to essentially turn General Motors into a next-generation attacker.”
Those who know Mr. Akerson say he was driven by the challenge, perhaps one of the biggest in the business world today, and the desire to do something that would help the American government.
“He thinks this is very much in the national interest,” said Kenneth I. Chenault, the chief executive of American Express, where Mr. Akerson has served as a director for 15 years.
Mr. Chenault described Mr. Akerson as a quick study with strong strategic skills and a “fierce competitive drive.”
“What you have in Dan is an outstanding leader who is just relentlessly focused on driving results,” Mr. Chenault said. “He’s willing to go against conventional wisdom, and I think that’s something that the automotive industry needs.”
Mr. Akerson, 61, is now the head of the Carlyle Group’s global buyout business, the largest of the investment firm’s four divisions.
He is one of several G.M. directors, along with Mr. Whitacre and David Bonderman, another top private equity executive, who were often critical of old G.M. practices and urged faster, more sweeping changes in management and business practices, according to people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to discuss the board’s deliberations.
“Since joining the G.M. board, my admiration for this company and my appreciation for this industry have grown tremendously,” Mr. Akerson said Thursday in a conference call. “We still have important work ahead of us, but I am confident that we are building the foundation for G.M.’s long-term success.”
Before joining Carlyle in 2003, Mr. Akerson held various top jobs in the telecommunications industry. He was chief executive of Nextel Communications and the chairman and chief executive of XO Communications, where he supervised a bankruptcy and turnaround. Earlier, at MCI, he oversaw the creation of marketing efforts such as the “Friends and Family” calling plan and 1-800-COLLECT.
He also briefly worked at the buyout firm Forstmann Little, and during his stint there served as the chief executive of General Instruments.
A graduate of the United States Naval Academy and the London School of Economics, Mr. Akerson was recruited to Carlyle by one of the firm’s founders, William E. Conway Jr., who also worked as a senior executive at MCI.
Mr. Akerson began at the buyout shop as a senior adviser to the firm’s portfolio companies, as it began to bring in high-level executives with operating expertise. He soon became the co-head of the firm’s American buyout operations, and he rose to global head of the buyout business in July 2009.
“Dan Akerson is one of the most exceptional executives in the country and will serve both G.M.’s interests and our national interest well,” Mr. Conway said in an e-mail. “He has played an incredibly valuable role at Carlyle. We will miss him.”
The Washington Post, in a 2000 profile of Mr. Akerson, relayed a story about his once being so impatient with doctors who were treating his gall bladder at a German hospital that he removed the tubes from his arm, checked out and flew back home to the United States.
In that regard, much will feel familiar when he is succeeded next month by Daniel F. Akerson, who was making a name for himself at MCI and Nextel as Mr. Whitacre was building the empire that became AT&T.
Having held top jobs at a string of companies and more recently working for a buyout fund with a mandate to spot opportunities, Mr. Akerson has a knack for parachuting in, surveying the landscape and making operational and financial changes.
He joined the automaker’s board just over a year ago as a representative of the government and remains largely unknown within the company. An outsider, he has bristled at what he considered some of the ineffective ways of the old G.M., say people close to the board.
Mr. Akerson said Thursday that he and Mr. Whitacre “share a common vision” for G.M. and that the automaker was headed in the right direction as it reported its largest quarterly profit in six years.
As the fourth chief executive for G.M. in less than two years, Mr. Akerson will need first to sell investors on the slimmed-down company’s potential and then eliminate the government’s 61 percent ownership stake. G.M. is expected to file soon for an initial public offering that could be one of the biggest in history, after its quick bankruptcy sponsored by the government last year.
“Akerson is first rate in understanding finance, but he also is an operating guy,” said Howard Anderson, who has followed the telecommunications industry since founding the Yankee Group, a research firm, in 1970.
Mr. Anderson, now a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, named for one of G.M.’s founders, said he expected Mr. Akerson to put more fight into G.M., which for decades has watched smaller, aggressive companies steal its market share and profits.
“The world is divided into defenders and attackers, and G.M. has been a defender,” Mr. Anderson said. “Akerson has run attackers. He is going to essentially turn General Motors into a next-generation attacker.”
Those who know Mr. Akerson say he was driven by the challenge, perhaps one of the biggest in the business world today, and the desire to do something that would help the American government.
“He thinks this is very much in the national interest,” said Kenneth I. Chenault, the chief executive of American Express, where Mr. Akerson has served as a director for 15 years.
Mr. Chenault described Mr. Akerson as a quick study with strong strategic skills and a “fierce competitive drive.”
“What you have in Dan is an outstanding leader who is just relentlessly focused on driving results,” Mr. Chenault said. “He’s willing to go against conventional wisdom, and I think that’s something that the automotive industry needs.”
Mr. Akerson, 61, is now the head of the Carlyle Group’s global buyout business, the largest of the investment firm’s four divisions.
He is one of several G.M. directors, along with Mr. Whitacre and David Bonderman, another top private equity executive, who were often critical of old G.M. practices and urged faster, more sweeping changes in management and business practices, according to people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to discuss the board’s deliberations.
“Since joining the G.M. board, my admiration for this company and my appreciation for this industry have grown tremendously,” Mr. Akerson said Thursday in a conference call. “We still have important work ahead of us, but I am confident that we are building the foundation for G.M.’s long-term success.”
Before joining Carlyle in 2003, Mr. Akerson held various top jobs in the telecommunications industry. He was chief executive of Nextel Communications and the chairman and chief executive of XO Communications, where he supervised a bankruptcy and turnaround. Earlier, at MCI, he oversaw the creation of marketing efforts such as the “Friends and Family” calling plan and 1-800-COLLECT.
He also briefly worked at the buyout firm Forstmann Little, and during his stint there served as the chief executive of General Instruments.
A graduate of the United States Naval Academy and the London School of Economics, Mr. Akerson was recruited to Carlyle by one of the firm’s founders, William E. Conway Jr., who also worked as a senior executive at MCI.
Mr. Akerson began at the buyout shop as a senior adviser to the firm’s portfolio companies, as it began to bring in high-level executives with operating expertise. He soon became the co-head of the firm’s American buyout operations, and he rose to global head of the buyout business in July 2009.
“Dan Akerson is one of the most exceptional executives in the country and will serve both G.M.’s interests and our national interest well,” Mr. Conway said in an e-mail. “He has played an incredibly valuable role at Carlyle. We will miss him.”
The Washington Post, in a 2000 profile of Mr. Akerson, relayed a story about his once being so impatient with doctors who were treating his gall bladder at a German hospital that he removed the tubes from his arm, checked out and flew back home to the United States.
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