Mary Barra named GM CEO to
become America's
first female car chief
Head of product development Barra,
51, joined GM at 18
'I’m honored to lead the best team
in the business'
General Motors, America’s
largest car manufacturer, has named Mary Barra its chief executive,
making her the first woman to head a major auto firm.
Barra’s appointment was announced
Tuesday, a day after the US
government sold off its last stake in the auto giant. The daughter of a GM
worker, Barra joined the company at 18 and is currently its global head of
product development.
Michelle Krebs, a veteran auto
analyst at Edmunds.com, said the move was a major victory for women in the auto
industry. “My first comment to colleagues was: ‘Holy shit!’ I honestly didn’t
think this would happen in my lifetime.”
The company said the 51-year-old
Barra had risen through a series of manufacturing, engineering, and senior
staff positions in her 33 years with GM.
She succeeds Dan Akerson, a
corporate turnaround expert appointed by the Obama administration in 2009 to
help shepherd the automaker through its bankruptcy. She will also join the
company’s board, the fifth female member of the 14-strong board.
On Monday, the Treasury announced
it had sold its final stake in the company. GM emerged from bankruptcy in July
2009. The company has become solidly profitable despite continuing difficulties
in Europe. The US lost $10.5bn on its GM bailout,
officials said, arguing that it was a smaller loss than it would have suffered
had GM gone under.
The company said Akerson, 65, had
brought forward his succession plan several months after his wife was recently
diagnosed with an advanced stage of cancer.
“I will leave with great
satisfaction in what we have accomplished, great optimism over what is ahead
and great pride that we are restoring General Motors as America’s standard bearer in the
global auto industry,” Akerson said in a message to employees.
Barra earned her bachelor's degree
in electrical engineering from Kettering
University – formerly the General
Motors Institute – in Flint,
Michigan. She also holds an MBA
from Stanford.
Barra grew up in Waterford,
a suburb of Detroit.
Her father worked for 39 years as a GM dye maker.
“With an amazing portfolio of cars
and trucks and the strongest financial performance in our recent history, this
is an exciting time at today’s GM,” said Barra. “I’m honored to lead the best
team in the business and to keep our momentum at full speed.”
Krebs said: “Mary has been
rumoured to be a top candidate for some time, but there were always other
contenders. Too many times we have seen the auto industry become a great
training ground for women executives who then move on to other industries.”
“She’s rock solid. She’s quiet on
the outside but internally she is extremely effective and a strong leader. She
came up through the manufacturing ranks. They are not as bad as they used to be
but any woman who comes up that way has to be tough,” said Krebs.
Akerson will step down in January.
Under his guidance the company returned to the stock market in November 2010
and has recorded 15 consecutive quarters of profitability, re-invested nearly
$9bn and created or retained more than 25,000 jobs at its US plants.
“My goals as CEO were to put the
customer at the center of every decision we make, to position GM for long term
success and to make GM a company that America can be proud of again,”
Akerson said. “We are well down that path, and I’m certain that our new team
will keep us moving in that direction.”
Mary T. Barra
Mary T.
Barra is the SVP for General Motors (Bailout Company), and a
director at the General Dynamics Corporation.
Note: Sidley
Austin LLP was the lobby firm for General Motors (Bailout Company).
Robert
S. Osborne was the group VP for the General Motors (Bailout Company),
and is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
John H. Bryan
was a director at the General Motors (Bailout Company), and is a member
of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
R. Eden
Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and
counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama
was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Newton N.
Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory
Please note: This link for the
members of the Commercial Club of Chicago can no longer be found.
J.
Christopher Reyes is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and
was a director at the General Dynamics Corporation.
James S.
Crown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a trustee at
the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a director at the General
Dynamics Corporation.
Lester Crown
is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, was a director at the General
Dynamics Corporation, and a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute
(think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think
tank), the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank),
and the Committee for Economic Development.
George Soros
is the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, the founder
& chairman for the Open Society Foundations, and a board member for
the International Crisis Group.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace (think tank), and the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a board
member for the International Crisis
Group, the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
(think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with
Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population
control by involving the United
States in war)
Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think tank) was a funder for General Motors (Bailout Company).
Patricia
F. Russo is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and
a director at General Motors (Bailout Company).
Paul G.
Kaminski was a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and
is a director at the General Dynamics Corporation.
George A.
Joulwan is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and
was a director at the General Dynamics Corporation.
James
L. Jones Jr. is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank), was a director at the General Dynamics Corporation,
and a director at the Boeing Company.
W.
James McNerney Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and the chairman & president & CEO for the Boeing Company.
Barbara
G. Fast was a VP at the Boeing Company, and a VP for the CGI
Group Inc.
CGI Group
Inc. was the Obamacare contractor that developed Healthcare.gov
web site.
Obamacare
is Barack Obama’s signature policy initiative.
Donna S.
Morea was the EVP for the CGI Group Inc., and a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development.
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