As General Motors Co. seeks a new CEO to replace Chairman Ed Whitacre, who is holding the post temporarily after the recent ouster of Fritz Henderson, the auto maker lands a former Microsoft Corp. executive as its new chief financial officer, effective this month.
And the mere arrival of Chris Liddell sparks speculation he could be a strong candidate for the CEO position, which could take a year to fill, Whitacre has said.
Liddell, 51, had been expected to leave Microsoft to pursue a CEO position, although it was thought he would take the top spot at another technology company. Several GM CFOs have made the leap to CEO, most recently Henderson and his predecessor Rick Wagoner.
An engineer by training, Liddell was named CFO at Microsoft in May 2005. In addition to his responsibility for worldwide finance at the $272 billion company founded by Bill Gates, he also oversaw Microsoft's acquisitions, corporate strategy, treasury activities, tax planning, accounting and reporting and investor relations.
Prior to joining Microsoft, Liddell worked as CFO at International Paper Co. and before that was CEO of New Zealand's Carter Holt Harvey Ltd., another forest-products company. He also has worked as an investment banker.
At presstime, GM had not yet revealed Liddell's compensation package. But regulatory filings show the Microsoft executive earned roughly $4.8 million last year.
Liddell's total compensation package at the Seattle-based software giant included a cash salary of $541,667 and cash incentive payments of $420,000.
However, the bulk of his compensation was paid in stock awards and grants valued at $3.8 million, according to a Microsoft filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
GM also declines comment on whether the U.S. Treasury assisted in landing Liddell, as it did in making Whitacre GM's new chairman. Treasury officials are unwilling to comment on any role it played in Liddell's appointment.
Whitacre has told reporters a new CEO for GM would have to take the job for more than the money. “It's about coming back and making a company great and making it public again,” he says.
