GM CEO, Rick Wagoner, Will Step Down

Rick Wagoner, GM CEO, Will Step Down At Obama’s Behest

Huffington Post/NYT/CNBC |   March 29, 2009 05:04 PM

UPDATE:

The Obama administration asked GM CEO Rick Wagoner to step down, according to numerous reports.

According to Politico:

The Obama administration asked Rick Wagoner, the chairman and CEO of General Motors, to step down and he agreed, a White House official said.
The White House confirmed Wagoner was leaving at the government’s behest after The Associated Press reported his immediate departure, without giving a reason.

And the Wall Street Journal adds more details:

Mr. Wagoner was asked to step down on Friday by Steven Rattner, the investment banker picked last month by the administration to lead the Treasury Department’s auto-industry task force. Mr. Rattner broke the news to Mr. Wagoner in person at his office at Treasury, according to an administration official. Afterward, Mr. Rattner met one-on-one with Mr. Henderson, who will fill in as GM’s CEO.
“On Friday I was in Washington for a meeting with administration officials,” Mr. Wagoner said in a statement released by GM. “In the course of that meeting, they requested that I ‘step aside’ as CEO of GM, and so I have.”

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General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner will step down from the company, according to several reports.

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GM Slashing 10,000 Jobs

GM cutting 10,000 jobs

Troubled automaker reducing worldwide salaried staff by 14%, with a third of layoffs coming in U.S.; remaining workers to have their pay cut for 2009.

By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer

Last Updated: February 10, 2009: 9:29 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — General Motors announced Tuesday it is cutting 10,000 workers, or 14% of its salaried jobs worldwide. A third of those job losses will be in the United States.

The troubled automaker also said it will cut the pay for its remaining U.S. salaried staff..

GM (GM, Fortune 500), which is preparing to present a long-term viability plan to the Treasury Department next week, said the cutbacks are part of the restructuring plan it submitted to Congress on Dec. 2 when it was first asking Washington for federal assistance.

GM received $9.4 billion in federal loans in order to allow it to stay out of bankruptcy, and expects to receive another $4 billion in federal loans after its Feb. 17 submission to the Treasury Department.

GM said worldwide salaried staff would be cut to 63,000 from 73,000, and that 3,400 of its 29,500 salaried staff in the United States will be affected. This job reduction will not include voluntary buyout offers, however.

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Bailout Money for the Privileged Few

by Geezer Power

Well, here I am, a senior citizen playing a rap song. Bound to happen, like , the medium is the message. I’m not worried yet, but if & when they cut off my social security I’m going to wish I could have my share of the bail out money too. Especially if I also lose my medicare.

If I have to start mowing lawns to make ends meet, do you think that the gubmint will replace my broken lawn mower? Will they front me some money for fuel and upkeep of my equipment? I think not…G:

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Bush Has Approved $17 Billion In Auto Loans

To the Rescue: Bush to Give Low-Interest Loans to Carmakers

Obama Team Agrees to Bush’s Strategy

ABC News- By JONATHAN KARL
Dec. 19, 2008

The White House has come to the rescue of beleaguered General Motors and Chrysler by providing them with $17.4 billion in low-interest loans, ABC News has learned.

“In the midst of a financial crisis and a recession, allowing the U.S. auto industry to collapse is not a responsible course of action,” President Bush said today. “It could send our suffering economy into a deeper and longer recession. And it would leave the next president to confront the demise of a major American industry in his first days of office.”

The money for the loans will come from the Troubled Asset Relief Program fund, signed into law this fall to bail out the financial industry.

The Treasury Department will provide $13.4 billion in short-term financing in December and January and plans to make another $4 billion available in February, provided Congress allows the White House to reach into the second half of the $700 billion TARP fund.

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