Chrysler announced today that C. Robert Kidder will takeover as Chairman once its merger with Fiat is wrapped up. Kidder takes over from Bob Nardelli who will return to Cerberus Capital to work as an advisor.
Kidder currently serves on the boards of Morgan Stanley, Schering-Plough and Microvi Biotech Inc. He previously served as CEO of Duracell International and Borden Chemical Inc. and is currently CEO of 3Stone Advisors LLC, an investment firm that specializes in clean-tech companies.
Are you sensing a pattern here?
If not, here's a hint. Chrysler will once again have a top executive with little to no experience in the automotive industry. It appears as though even Chrysler was aware of how this might look so it added a line to his bio that mentions Kidder's work with a "major OEM client in the automotive industry" during a stint at McKinsey.
roar02ram says:
04:13 PM, 05/20/09
Hmmm, treading a thin line on that point there, Ed, given all the success that Alan Mullaly has had over at Ford.
stephen987 says:
04:24 PM, 05/20/09
I fear he'll finish the job of "parting it out" that Cerberus started. My hopes for this merger are rapidly waning as the details emerge.
kingkhalas says:
04:27 PM, 05/20/09
Love the old new white guy comment, Ed. so true.
bc1960 says:
06:50 PM, 05/20/09
As I pointed out in another blog, he's been hired as Chairman of the Board, not CEO (Nardelli was both). While Chairman technically outranks CEO, he deals primarily with corporate governance, not management of the company's operations.
And while it has long been an article of faith among buff books and sites that the Big 3 would be much better off if only car guys had been in charge, the track record of engineers and other car guys as CEOs hasn't been much better than that of attorneys, accountants, and sales guys.
After the debacle created by the car guys at Daimler-Benz, Chrysler needs a business plan and sound fiscal management as much as it needs different products.
stovt001 says:
06:51 PM, 05/20/09
Not sure if the argument that you need auto industry experience works anymore. Mullaly certainly is showing strong initial signs of success, and Nardelli had been at Chrysler too short a time and was given it in such poor condition that I'm not sure we can use him as an example of it going wrong.
cruiserhead1 says:
08:23 PM, 05/20/09
Board of Morgan Stanley?? Seriously?
So someone from the largest financial fiasco..ever... is going to head up a merger of two mediocre car companies.
That sounds great. I loved watching the black hole in Star Trek, might as well see one created in real life too.
cbrowder says:
04:12 AM, 05/21/09
New old white guy...funny
jederino says:
01:21 PM, 05/21/09
It's much more important to have a leader that empowers his engineers, designers and technical staff, than have him be an engineer himself.
estreka says:
10:05 AM, 05/23/09
I don't think it matters too much who's in charge of Chrysler at this point. The company is pretty much a wash anyway.