2 Key Ford leaders to retire, Mulally to stay on
21.05.12
For now, Chief Executive Alan Mulally isn't going anywhere. The energetic, 66-year-old Kansan is considered a hero for bringing the company back from financial disaster. He insisted on Thursday that he'll continue to lead Ford.
But the retirements of two top lieutenants — CFO Lewis Booth and Product Development Chief Derrick Kuzak — on April 1 remove two of the five inside contenders for the CEO job. Their departures have renewed water cooler talk about who takes over for superstar Mulally.
Both men helped turn the company around after it borrowed billions in 2006 to stay in business. Kuzak, 60, got Ford to shift from being primarily a truck company to making more cars. Booth, 63, led the company's financial operations through the banking crisis.
On Thursday, Mulally named their replacements and promised that Ford's success will continue as it follows the plan that led it to prosperity.
"Nothing's changing about the way we operate," said Mulally, whose company last month reported its third-straight annual profit.
Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution