General Motors Co. named Paul Jacobson executive vice president and chief financial officer on Friday, Oct. 30. The 48-year-old executive will assume his new role on Dec. 1, reporting to Chief Executive Mary Barra.
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| Paul Jacobson (Photo Courtesy General Motors) |
Jacobson is a veteran of Delta Air Lines, Inc., a company Wall Street widely considers the best managed U.S. airline, and the most profitable carrier of the past decade.
He played a large role in that success as Delta Air Lines' CFO. He helped transform Delta Air Lines into one of Fortune Magazine's Top 50 most Admired Companies for six consecutive years, and the top-ranked airline for eight years, GM stated.
He was also named the airline industry’s best CFO eight times by Institutional Investor magazine’s poll of Wall Street analysts and investors.
“Paul is a great addition to the GM senior leadership team and is dedicated to leading the company for the benefit of all stakeholders – customers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders,” Barra said. “We share a commitment to teamwork and inclusion as we work toward our vision of a future with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion."
After announcing his retirement in February, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastien invited him to reconsider retiring and Jacobson had agreed to rescind his retirement and continue as CFO. Now, he's moving to GM as the airline industry struggles through a global pandemic.
Jacobson joined Delta as a financial analyst in 1997, and held several positions there, including senior vice president and treasurer, before becoming chief financial officer in March 2012.
This change in leadership is not the first upper-level management shake-up at GM. In April the Detroit-based company announced three new senior executive appointments, including additions from Proctor & Gamble.
Jacobson will replace Dhivya Suryadevara, who left GM in August for Silicon Valley payments startup Stripe. Standing CFO John Stapleton, acting CFO since August, will continue as North America chief financial officer when Jacobson steps in next month.
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| U.S. Army awarded GM Defense LLC, $214.3M production contract to build, field, and sustain the Army’s new ISV. (Photo Courtesy General Motors) |
Jacobson will help GM rapidly build scale in vehicle electrification and autonomous technologies.
Earlier this year the automotive giant was awarded a $214.3 million contract to produce the U.S. Army's Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV). The company's solution to the Army’s next-generation transportation needs is based off the 2020 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 midsize truck architecture. It also leverages 90 percent commercial off-the-shelf parts, including dual spool-valve dampers and suspension components that can be found at established military suppliers.
Under new leadership, we hope to see more autonomous technology from GM in government contracting and the commercial arenas.
