G.M. Hires Finance Chief From Microsoft

G.M. Hires Finance Chief From Microsoft
By NICK BUNKLEY
Copyright by Bloomberg News
Published: December 21, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/business/global/22saab.html?th&emc=th


DETROIT — General Motors’ chief executive, Edward E. Whitacre Jr., continued his hurry-up offense approach to remaking the automakers’ management ranks Monday, naming Christopher P. Liddell, who led a recent $3 billion cost-cutting effort at Microsoft, as its chief financial officer and a vice chairman.

A Saab factory in Trollhattan, Sweden. G.M. is planning to close Saab but says it will still study bids for the unit.

Mr. Liddell, whose departure from Microsoft was announced last month, is the first high-ranking executive hired by G.M. under Mr. Whitacre, who has also been elevating internal executives to more senior positions and creating a culture of greater accountability.

The appointment of Mr. Liddell comes about three months after G.M.’s directors decided to replace Ray Young, who has been chief financial officer since March 2008.

When Microsoft announced in November that Mr. Liddell would leave at the end of 2009, the company said in a statement that he was “looking at a number of opportunities that will expand his career beyond being a C.F.O.”

There was considerable speculation at the time that he would move on to be the chief executive at another software company.

Now Mr. Liddell could be in the running to become chief executive at G.M., either when Mr. Whitacre is ready to step aside or at some point after that.

The previous chief executive, Fritz Henderson, and his most recent predecessor, Rick Wagoner, each served time as G.M.’s finance chief before being promoted to the top job.

“The C.F.O. office is historically one of the tickets to the corner office,” said Michael Useem, a professor of management at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. “Finance has become so critical in how companies operate and where the value is being created. Obviously any C.F.O. is well positioned to be considered.”

At Microsoft, Mr. Liddell carried out a plan this year to help weather the economic downturn that included the software company’s first mass layoffs, wage freezes and other spending cutbacks. Microsoft also said it returned $14 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks in the most recent fiscal year.

Mr. Liddell, 51, became Microsoft’s chief financial officer in 2005 after holding the same position at International Paper Company. He had also been chief executive at a forestry products company in his native New Zealand and an investment banker, but has no automotive experience.

He has an engineering degree from the University of Auckland in New Zealand and a master’s in philosophy from Oxford University in England. and is a former director of the New Zealand Rugby Union.

Mr. Liddell earned $3.7 million at Microsoft in the 2009 fiscal year and will receive $1.9 million after leaving the company. He will earn significantly less at G.M., at least initially, because the company must adhere to executive pay limits tied to the $50 billion it borrowed from the federal government in the last year.

Among his expected near-term responsibilities at G.M. will be to position the company for a public stock offering as soon as next year.

“Chris brings a depth and experience to this job that were unmatched in our search for a new financial leader,” Mr. Whitacre said in a statement. “We’re also looking to his experience and insights in corporate strategy as a member of the senior leadership team in helping our restructuring efforts.”

G.M.’s efforts to clean up its balance sheet include the probable closing, announced Friday, of its Saab division.

But Spyker Cars, a tiny Dutch automaker that is seeking to buy Saab from General Motors, extended its offer for the beleaguered Swedish company, keeping alive slim hopes that Saab would survive despite G.M.’s threat to shut it down.

G.M. turned down Spyker’s first offer for Saab on Friday, but Spyker returned Sunday with a new proposal.

“Spyker has been in contact with G.M. today, and continues to develop its proposal for the purchase of Saab,” the company said in a statement. “Spyker has extended the validity of its proposal therefore until further notice.”

G.M. has said it will study the Spyker offer as well as other potential bids for Saab, but will close Saab if a buyer cannot be found by Dec. 31.

Spyker said the new offer addressed the concerns that G.M. raised last week, including whether Spyker could qualify for a loan of 400 million euros from the European Investment Bank. Spyker said the new proposal did not require the E.I.B.’s financing.

Despite the deadline extension, Spyker’s offer remains a long shot. The “wind down” process that G.M. began Friday is continuing even as it studies potential bids.

G.M. officials have not specified publicly what the problems were with Spyker’s initial bid, but several officials with knowledge of the negotiations said it was Spyker’s reliance on Russian financing for the deal, as well as an issue of whether Russian competitors might end up benefiting from G.M.’s latest designs.

Nelson D. Schwartz contributed reporting from Paris.