Mulally to stay on as Ford CEO till end of the year
Print Edition
All eyes will be on Ford’s new vehicles — not its CEO — at the Detroit auto show next week.
CEO Alan Mulally finally put to rest rumors that he will leave Ford to run Microsoft. Mulally said he’ll stay at the Dearborn-based automaker through at least the end of this year.
“I would like to end the Microsoft speculation because I have no other plans to do anything other than serve Ford,” Mulally said in an interview on Tuesday.
With that, Mulally ended months of speculation that had already clouded the debut of the new Mustang last month and threatened to overshadow next week’s widely expected unveiling of a new F-150, plus the launch of 23 new vehicles this year.
Mulally wouldn’t say whether he had talked to Microsoft about the CEO job, but said the speculation had been a distraction for Ford.
“You don’t have to worry about me leaving,” Mulally said.
Mulally, who is credited with returning Ford Motor Co to profitability and ending the toxic infighting in its ranks, will stick with his plan to stay at Ford through at least the end of 2014. Ford announced that plan in November 2012. At the same time it promoted Mark Fields — Mulally’s likely successor — to chief operating officer.
Over the last few months, there have been numerous reports that Mulally was on the short list of candidates to replace Microsoft Corp CEO Steve Ballmer. Microsoft announced in August that Ballmer plans to step down as CEO.
Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets, said in an e-mail that Mulally’s decision was a negative for Microsoft because he was the front-runner for the CEO job.
Microsoft wouldn’t say that if Mulally’s announcement came as a surprise. “Out of respect for the process and the potential candidates, we don’t comment on individual names,” a Microsoft spokesman said.
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