Tom Purves, Chairman of BMW North America, is getting a new desk -- one that is adorned with a silver Flying Lady. As of July 1, Purves will take over as the CEO of BMW's Rolls-Royce brand in Goodwood, England. Replacing Tom Purves as the CEO of BMW's North American Unit will be Jim O'Donnell, who has occupied the No. 2 seat since the beginning of this month.
Purves is no stranger to Rolls-Royce. He spent the first 17 years of his career there occupying several different management positions. The timing for his departure from BMW is interesting, though. BMW has a mandatory retirement age of 60. Coincidentally, that just happens to be the age Purves will celebrate on his birthday this November. Rolls-Royce, one of the most prestigious automakers in the world, doesn't have a mandatory retirement age.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jvijil @ Apr 22nd 2008 4:42PM
wow gets to manage a nice super luxury brand and avoids retiring.... nice
FSM @ Apr 22nd 2008 4:47PM
yeah, I'm sure he needs to save a bit more money before he can afford to retire
Spin @ Apr 22nd 2008 5:01PM
I'm still stuck on "Goodwood, England". That's a great place for a porn star to live.
PaulPaul @ Apr 22nd 2008 5:37PM
I bet it helps when you look like Benny Hill...
Andy @ Apr 22nd 2008 5:38PM
Well done sir... Good catch.
pedantic @ Apr 22nd 2008 6:09PM
I don't see the 60th anniversary of his birth having anything to do with the move to Rolls-Royce. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is still a part of BMW.
I also assume that the 17 years at Rolls-Royce was with the other entities known as Rolls-Royce (Rolls-Royce Limited, Rolls-Royce Motors, or Rolls-Royce plc). VW bought Rolls-Royce Motors and Bentley from Vickers in 1998. And a dispute between the rights for the name "Rolls-Royce" led them to sell BMW the name. Everything else "Rolls-Royce" became part of Bentley in VW.