Yahoo!!
03-30-2009, 04:41 PM
edited to conform to fair use requirements
It has finally happened and I think it was about time.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ihDmcAFFtCO_yZDi-IPKEpLwZb8wD978CSV80
GM CEO Wagoner forced out as part of gov't plan
By TOM KRISHER and DAN STRUMPF – 2 hours ago
DETROIT (AP) — Time and time again, General Motors Corp.'s board of directors reaffirmed its support for Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner, even as the company piled up billions of dollars in losses and begged for government loans to stay alive.
But Wagoner is now a high-profile casualty of government intervention, forced out as part of the Obama administration's sweeping last-ditch effort to save the century-old auto giant.
....
GM shares tumbled 96 cents, or 26.5 percent, to $2.66 in morning trading Monday. That is down 89 percent from their 52-week high of $24.24 on April 30, 2008.
The management shake-up, according to several industry analysts, shows that the administration is serious about forcing GM to change more quickly and dramatically than it did during Wagoner's nearly nine-year tenure as CEO.
Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of the automotive Web site Edmunds.com, called the move "political theater" to appease an increasingly bailout-weary public.
"American taxpayers are not happy," Anwyl said. "But this way you're able to point to Rick and say he's gone, and that creates an environment where the loans become politically palatable."
...
In the past four years, GM has piled up $82 billion in losses.
Still, Wagoner had the company moving in the right direction, Anwyl said.
...
Several senior administration officials said GM will get enough government aid to restructure over the next 60 days, while Chrysler will get up to $6 billion and 30 days to complete an alliance with Italian automaker Fiat SpA. If Chrysler fails to reach a deal with Fiat or another partner, the government won't provide any further financing, likely sending the company into liquidation.
...
AP Auto Writer Dan Strumpf reported from New York. Associated Press Writer Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
I think this was a long time coming and should have happened with the banks as well. Citigroup, BofA, AIG, etc should have been culled of their CEOs at the time of the TARP. It doesn't matter if the CEO did not instigate the problems, they probably still had knowledge of the looming catastrophe. The CEOs of these companies had their chance and now it is gone. I congratulate Obama on this move. To critics who lampooned the decision, I say that if a company doesn't want government interference, then they forgo any bailout from the government.
It has finally happened and I think it was about time.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ihDmcAFFtCO_yZDi-IPKEpLwZb8wD978CSV80
GM CEO Wagoner forced out as part of gov't plan
By TOM KRISHER and DAN STRUMPF – 2 hours ago
DETROIT (AP) — Time and time again, General Motors Corp.'s board of directors reaffirmed its support for Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner, even as the company piled up billions of dollars in losses and begged for government loans to stay alive.
But Wagoner is now a high-profile casualty of government intervention, forced out as part of the Obama administration's sweeping last-ditch effort to save the century-old auto giant.
....
GM shares tumbled 96 cents, or 26.5 percent, to $2.66 in morning trading Monday. That is down 89 percent from their 52-week high of $24.24 on April 30, 2008.
The management shake-up, according to several industry analysts, shows that the administration is serious about forcing GM to change more quickly and dramatically than it did during Wagoner's nearly nine-year tenure as CEO.
Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of the automotive Web site Edmunds.com, called the move "political theater" to appease an increasingly bailout-weary public.
"American taxpayers are not happy," Anwyl said. "But this way you're able to point to Rick and say he's gone, and that creates an environment where the loans become politically palatable."
...
In the past four years, GM has piled up $82 billion in losses.
Still, Wagoner had the company moving in the right direction, Anwyl said.
...
Several senior administration officials said GM will get enough government aid to restructure over the next 60 days, while Chrysler will get up to $6 billion and 30 days to complete an alliance with Italian automaker Fiat SpA. If Chrysler fails to reach a deal with Fiat or another partner, the government won't provide any further financing, likely sending the company into liquidation.
...
AP Auto Writer Dan Strumpf reported from New York. Associated Press Writer Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
I think this was a long time coming and should have happened with the banks as well. Citigroup, BofA, AIG, etc should have been culled of their CEOs at the time of the TARP. It doesn't matter if the CEO did not instigate the problems, they probably still had knowledge of the looming catastrophe. The CEOs of these companies had their chance and now it is gone. I congratulate Obama on this move. To critics who lampooned the decision, I say that if a company doesn't want government interference, then they forgo any bailout from the government.