Edward Whitacre Jr.

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Edward Whitacre Jr.

Whitacre in 2010, presenting the first production battery for

the Chevrolet Volt.

Born Edward Earl Whitacre Jr.[1]

November 4, 1941 (age 79)

Ennis, Texas, U.S.

Education B.S. Industrial Engineering

Alma mater Texas Tech University

Occupation business executive and consultant

Known for leadership of Southwestern Bell Corporation/AT&T

Inc., and General Motors

Political party Republican[2]

Edward Earl Whitacre Jr. (born November 4, 1941) is the

former Chairman and CEO of General Motors. He is also a former chairman of the
board and chief executive officer of AT&T, previously Southwestern Bell
Corporation (SBC). He served as national president of the Boy Scouts of America from
1998 to 2000. On September 1, 2010, Whitacre stepped down as CEO, and retired as
chairman of the board by the end of 2010. [3][4]
 Contents

 1Life and career

o 1.1Honors
 2Book
 3References
 4External links

Life and career[edit]

Whitacre was born in Ennis, Texas. He graduated from Texas Tech University with
a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering and is a member of the Delta Tau
Delta fraternity.[5][6]
He began his career with Southwestern Bell in 1963 as a facility engineer.
In October 1988, Whitacre became president and chief operating officer of a regional
bell operating company, Southwestern Bell Corporation. Two years later, Whitacre
became chairman of the board and chief executive officer. In 1995, Southwestern Bell
Corporation changed its name to SBC Communications. Whitacre led SBC through a
series of mergers and acquisitions in building the largest provider of both local long
distance telephone services and wireless service (through its Cingular division) in the
United States. These acquisitions included Pacific
Telesis (1997), SNET (1998), Comcast Cellular (1999), Ameritech (1999) and AT&T
Corporation (2005), from which the post-merger company took its name, as well as the
2006 acquisition of Bell South.[7]
On June 23, 2006, he and the CEO of BellSouth were brought in under the Senate
Antitrust Subcommittee following the AT&T-BellSouth merger. Whitacre was questioned
regarding possible customer information leaks to the NSA in the interest of national
security.[7] There had been allegations by former AT&T technician Mark Klein that such
work had been done in Room 641A of the San Francisco offices.[7]
Whitacre's compensation totaled $61 million in 2006, [8] $17 million in 2005, and about
$14 million in 2004.[9]
In 2006, Whitacre famously declared that companies
like Google, Yahoo! or Vonage should not be able to “use the pipes for free.” [10]
On April 27, 2007, at the AT&T annual stockholders meeting, Whitacre announced his
intent to retire as chief executive officer and chairman of the board, effective June 3.
The board of directors elected Randall Stephenson to succeed Whitacre as new CEO
and chairman. Whitacre retired on June 4, 2007, with Randall Stephenson taking over
the following morning. Upon retirement, Whitacre was eligible for a $158 million payout
from AT&T.[8] Following retirement, under his employment contract, Whitacre was
entitled to receive some continuing benefits, including automobile use, access to
AT&T's corporate aircraft for up to ten hours per month, use of AT&T office facilities and
support staff, home security, and club memberships, as well as payment of applicable
taxes resulting from these benefits, except for use of the aircraft. In addition, Whitacre
has a three-year consulting contract with AT&T for which he is paid about $1 million
annually.[11] It has been reported that during his tenure at AT&T, Whitacre offered
Randall Stephenson three words of advice via text message when the executive change
was announced: "Give 'em hell".[12]
BusinessWeek (1999) reported that, although the CEO of AT&T — amongst the largest
and most influential names in telecommunications and its surrounding technology,
Whitacre did not use e-mail or have a computer at his office. [13]
As General Motors chairman and interim CEO, Whitacre does have a computer at his
office and prefers to answer e-mail via BlackBerry.[14]
In May 2008, Whitacre was elected to the board of directors for ExxonMobil.[15]
On June 9, 2009, General Motors named Whitacre as chairman.[16] He took the position
when the automaker emerged from bankruptcy proceedings on July 10, 2009. [17] On
December 1, 2009, Whitacre became interim CEO following Fritz Henderson's
resignation.[18] Since taking the helms, he has been dubbed the GM Reaper by many in
blogs, noted for his strong desire to "kill off" brands and projects, such as Saab and a
sub-Volt Toyota Prius competitor planned for Chevrolet. In January 2010, chairman
Whitacre was appointed permanent CEO after serving in the post in an interim capacity.
On September 1, 2010 he relinquished the CEO position to Daniel Akerson but agreed
to continue on as GM Chairman to the end of the year. [19]
In February 2014 it was announced that he will deliver the Spring Commencement
address for University of the Pacific's Stockton campus on May 10, 2014 at Alex G.
Spanos Center.[20]
He continues to live in San Antonio, but frequently travels to Detroit.[21]