Rick Wagoner

Infobox Person
name = Rick Wagoner


image_size =
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birth_name =
birth_date = birth date and age|1953|2|9
birth_place = Wilmington, Delaware, USA
death_date =
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residence =
nationality = flagicon|USA American
occupation = Company director
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George Richard "Rick" Wagoner, Jr. (b. February 9 1953, Wilmington, Delaware) is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors.

Life and career

Wagoner grew up in Richmond, Virginia, USA and graduated from John Randolph Tucker High School there. In 2008 he was nominated into the Sports Hall of Fame at Tucker. He received a bachelor's degree in economics from Duke University in 1975 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1977.

After Harvard, he joined GM as an analyst in the treasurer's office. In 1981 he became treasurer of GM's Brazil subsidiary and later served as managing director.

In 1992 he was named GM's chief financial officer, in 1994 he became executive vice president and/or president of North American Operations, and in 1998 he was named president and chief operating officer. He became president and chief executive officer in June 2000 and was elected chairman on May 1 2003.

The operational improvements that Wagoner helped make in the decade, starting when he was chief financial officer and later as chief operating officer was reflected in GM lead over the rest of the U.S. Big Three car companies. After GM lost $30 billion during a single three-year stretch in the early '90s, Wagoner and Chairman John F. "Jack" Smith Jr. forced GM "back to basics" to battle "30 years of management mistakes" that left him with little room to maneuver [cite news | date=2003-02-10 | url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_06/b3819001.htm | title=Rick Wagoner's Game Plan | publisher=BusinessWeek | accessdate=2008-01-15] .

In an interview, ["Interview With Rick Wagoner," "Motor Trend" magazine, June 2006, p. 94] [ John McGrath, [http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2006/6/28/174247/184 Grist Mill: Environmental News and Commentary] , June 28 2006] Wagoner stated that the worst decision of his tenure at GM was "axing the EV1 electric-car program and not putting the right resources into hybrids. It didn’t affect profitability, but it did affect image." The effect on the image was that the perception of GM changed being being viewed as a technology innovator, into a perception of the company as having little interest in innovation [" [http://www.newsweek.com/id/36484 Why Toyota Is Becoming the World’s Top Carmaker] ", "Newsweek". Retrieved on 2008-05-19] [ [http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/06/news/companies/big_three_woes/index.htm Big Three bankruptcy worries on rise - Aug. 6, 2008] ] [ [http://www.ev1.org/msg/36.htm "GM's biggest problem: lack of credibility"] (on ev1.org site)] in a market with high demand for hybrid and electric vehicles, and leading to observations that GM, under Wagoner's leadership, failed to see clearly obvious trends. [Alex Taylor III, MotorWorld, "Rick Wagoner tries to catch a falling knife - and fails", "Fortune Magazine," July 2008. ( [http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/15/news/companies/taylor_gm.fortune/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote web version] (accessed Sept. 25, 2008)]

In April 2005 Wagoner took back personal control of GM's North American car division in light of its poor performance. In early June 2005 Wagoner announced that GM in the United States would close several plants and shed 25,000 employees (17% of GM's U.S. workforce) by 2008. The cuts will result in GM production reducing output by one million cars and trucks (from 6,000,000 to 5,000,000).

Wagoner is a member of the boards of trustees of Duke University, Detroit Country Day School, the Board of Dean's Advisors of the Harvard Business School, and the Board of Directors of Catalyst. He is a member of The Business Council, The Business Roundtable, Detroit Renaissance Executive Committee, and the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board.

See also

* Bob Lutz
* Micky Bly, director of General Motors hybrid vehicle integration

References

External links

* [http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/S-Z/Wagoner-Rick-1953.html Rick Wagoner's biography]
* [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Interviews/General_Motors_is_building_a_tech_base_in_India/articleshow/1952209.cms Rick Wagoner's speaks on GM's India strategy]