“There’s a big job cut at General Motors. CEO Fritz Henderson is out. The 25-year GM veteran stepped down late Tuesday. Chairman Ed Whitacre, the former head of AT&T, will serve as interim CEO until a replacement is found.” (CNN)
In a surprising move, GM CEO Fritz Henderson has resigned after just eight months on the job. As Newsy.com covered last month, Henderson seemed optimistic about the state of the company after revealing its third quarter rankings and announcing GM would begin to pay back American and Canadian taxpayers sooner than expected.
We’re now looking at perspectives from BBC, CNBC, Business News Network, and TIME.com
A BBC.com business reporter says the U.S. government seems eager to see a new GM.
"It is hard to see the sudden departure of General Motors chief Fritz Henderson as anything other than a follow-up from the sacking of his former boss Rick Wagoner in March."
CNBC reports the U.S. government is denying they had anything to do with the unexpected resignation.
“General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson has resigned after the board decided the automaker needed to speed up its restructuring with new leadership. Henderson steps down just eight months after taking over for Rick Wagner, who was ousted by the U.S. government. The White House says it was not involved in this decision.”
Canada’s Business News Network worries that with longtime leaders like Henderson leaving, GM’s current board of directors is simply not that knowledgeable about the automotive industry.
“You got a telephone repair man who’s running the whole thing, you’ve got academics, you’ve got buyout specialists, you have people, who by all accounts, it looks like they have never even driven a GM vehicle, and they’re in charge of directing this company?”
Finally, TIME.com takes a look at Henderson’s legacy and what it calls the error that led to his resignation.
"Henderson will be remembered as being as smart and experienced as any GM CEO, but he appeared tone-deaf when it came to listening to Whitacre and the rest of his board of directors. Since he had no role in picking them and they owed him nothing, that proved to be a fatal mistake."
So what do you think? Should Henderson have resigned? And what comes next for GM?
Writer: Michael Bittner
Producer: Ben Paul
