New CEO: Obama Isn’t Running GM
Apr 5, 2009 10 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
New GM CEO Fritz Henderson denied allegations that the government is running GM, on NBC’s “Meet The Press.”
“The administration and the task force has been very clear: they don’t want to run General Motors, they expect us to get our job done,†he said.
But, noted Henderson, the company must respect the taxpayers who are saving their business.
“One of the happiest days of my future career will be when we pay the money back,†said Henderson.
Republicans have warned that the administration is opening up an economic “Pandora’s box,” by ousting GM now-former CEO’s Rick Wagoner and playing a heavy role in the company’s restructuring plans.
Henderson said he reports to the interim chairman of the company’s board of directors but has a direct line into the administration’s auto task force.
“In fact, I have several masters,†he said.
Henderson said he would be taking a salary as CEO of GM, unlike the company’s former CEO who was working for $1.
“My salary is 1.3 million dollars,†Henderson said on NBC’s Meet The Press.
When GM took its first government loan at the beginning of the year, executive salaries — including Henderson’s– were cut 30 percent.
On CNN’s State of The Union, Henderson noted that he has no pension, golden parachute, or contract.
“In truth, I think it’s a fair level of compensation. Ultimately that’s what the board felt,” said Henderson on CNN.
Henderson, a self-decribed “car nut,” drives a 2005 Corvette and an Escalade. His wife has a Saab 93 convertable. He identifies as a Republican, although he’s given contributions to both parties.
“I always vote for who I think is the best person,” he said, but wouldn’t “get into” who he voted for in 2008.
