Read an excerpt from Whitacre's book about how he fired Henderson and why Akerson got the job

Jonathon Ramsey — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:45:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., GM

It is probably best just to play this down the middle and let you read the excerpt from American Turnaround: Reinventing AT&T and GM and the Way We Do Business in the USA by Ed Whitacre. The author, you'll remember, was the former AT&T CEO who came out of retirement to take the position of chairman at General Motors in June of 2009. Six months later, he took the role of CEO, and on September 1, 2010 he was replaced by current CEO Dan Akerson and gave up the chairmanship at the end of that year.

To read the excerpt, you're going to have to get past the Fortune headline "How Ed Whitacre brought GM back from the brink." Now, Whitacre didn't choose that headline, and since we're playing this down the middle, we can't say that the headline isn't the only eyebrow-raising line in the piece - but we won't charge it to Whitacre's account. However, when it takes five years to develop a single car, and redesigning a taillight for a midcycle refresh might take a year, we're not sure how anyone can reinvent a global automaker in just nine-months as CEO. Perhaps we should ask Ford boss Alan Mullaly about that timeframe.

To the point, the book will be out on February 12 - you can pre-order it on Amazon now - and Whitacre's explanation of how Fritz Henderson was let go, how he got the CEO position and how Akerson came to follow will be sure to get enthusiasts intrigued in what else the complete tome might say. All you've got to do is follow the link to read it.

Read an excerpt from Whitacre's book about how he fired Henderson and why Akerson got the job originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GM hires ex-AT&T execs for lobbying efforts

Dan Roth — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, GM

While the job may not be popular at all in terms of public opinion, General Motors departing lobbyist Ken Cole has done a pretty good job of making the automaker a sympathetic figure for those inclined to bend rules and bail out poorly-managed behemoths. Sure, GM's stature in the public eye is still down there with big tobacco, but Cole managed to keep the automaker's relationship with governments around the world on a somewhat even keel. No mean feat when you consider how much divestiture underpins the whole of GM's plan forward.

It might even be said that Cole the individual can't be replaced by just one person, and Ed Whitacre seemingly agrees. Two of Whitacre's former AT&T colleagues have been given offices in the company's Detroit Renaissance Center headquarters as replacements for the departing Ken Cole. John Montford has been given a seat beside Whitacre where he will put government affairs under his purview, a role he honed as AT&T's Senior Vice President of state legislative affairs. GM's new Vice President of Government Relations is Bob Ferguson, who was most recently doing public affairs consulting, but he was all over state regulatory affairs at AT&T before that. We may get to see how well these guys can dance come June, when Whitacre has vowed to pay back nearly $7 billion in government loans. Official press release after the jump.

[Source: General Motors]

Continue reading GM hires ex-AT&T execs for lobbying efforts

GM hires ex-AT&T execs for lobbying efforts originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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