The UPS (NYSE:UPS) Board of Directors today announced that
Chairman and CEO Mike Eskew will step down at the end of the year and
will be replaced by Scott Davis, who is currently the company's vice
chairman and chief financial officer.
Davis, 55, joined UPS in 1986 when it acquired the technology
company II Morrow, where he was CEO. Davis served in positions of
increasing responsibility in finance and accounting before assuming
the role of CFO and joining the UPS Management Committee in 2001. He
was named vice chairman in 2006 and was elected to the UPS Board of
Directors that same year.
"Over the past several years, Scott has worked closely with Mike
Eskew as an architect of the UPS strategy, helping the company expand
through acquisitions and investments in new products and technology,"
said Victor Pelson, a member of the UPS Board of Directors and
chairman of its Nominating and Corporate Governance committees. "He
also has an intense focus on execution and growth and has helped
position the company to continue delivering on its remarkable record
of success."
A native of Oregon, Davis also serves as deputy chairman of the
board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and sits on the board of
Honeywell International, Inc. He is chairman of the Georgia Council on
Economic Education.
Under Mike Eskew's leadership, UPS has flourished. Eskew assumed
the role of chairman and CEO on Jan. 1, 2002, and under his direction
UPS has expanded its capabilities into new lines of business that
complement the company's global package delivery operations.
Known as an innovator and strategist, Eskew has overseen the
design of increasingly sophisticated solutions for UPS customers by
synchronizing the movement of goods, information and funds. These
expanded capabilities include multi-modal transportation services,
sophisticated technologies, international trade management, supply
chain consulting and financial services.
UPS also has seen unprecedented growth since Eskew assumed the
helm. From 2002 through 2006, UPS revenues grew by nearly 57 percent
to $47.5 billion and net income rose by more than 75 percent. More
impressively, UPS saw its international package revenues more than
double to $9 billion and its supply chain and freight revenues nearly
quadruple to $8 billion at the end of 2006.
"Mike Eskew has helped transform one of America's most admired
companies into a global logistics organization that helps thousands of
businesses and individuals succeed every day," said Pelson. "And yet,
I know that Mike would prefer to be remembered as a shepherd of the
strong and unique UPS culture and for creating a positive environment
in which 427,000 UPSers can thrive."
The company also announced several other changes in senior
leadership. Replacing Davis as the company's CFO will be Kurt Kuehn,
who is currently senior vice president of global sales and marketing
and a member of the UPS Management Committee. Replacing Kuehn will be
Alan Gershenhorn, who is currently president of UPS International and
also serves on the UPS Management Committee. Dan Brutto, who is
currently the president of global freight forwarding for UPS, is being
promoted to the position of president of UPS International and will
also join the company's Management Committee.
Kuehn, 52, is a 30-year company veteran. He has held a wide
variety of positions in operations, engineering, finance and
marketing. Kuehn has led the strategic cost department, responsible
for profit and loss measurement, customer pricing systems and cost
analysis. He later held the position of vice president of business
information analysis, where he oversaw market research, competitive
analysis and data mining.
Prior to his current position, Kuehn served as UPS's first vice
president of Investor Relations after playing an instrumental role in
the company's initial public offering of stock in 1999.
Gershenhorn, 49, began his UPS career in 1979. He has held various
U.S. and international positions of increasing responsibility in
operations, engineering, freight forwarding, logistics, brokerage,
marketing, strategy and retail services.
As a member of the company's International Marketing department in
1993, he helped launch new international services during a period of
rapid global growth for UPS. Subsequent assignments took him to Europe
and then to Canada, where as the country's vice president of marketing
and later as operations district manager he helped restructure UPS
Canada's operations and services, resulting in significant increases
in revenues and profit.
Gershenhorn also has served in several other significant
leadership positions within the company, including president of UPS
Canada, president of UPS Supply Chain Solutions (SCS) Global
Transportation and Shared Services and president of UPS SCS operations
in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Brutto, 51, joined UPS in 1975 and is currently responsible for
the company's global brokerage services and network management,
helping to coordinate UPS's extensive air, ocean and ground freight
operations.
During the past 32 years, Brutto has held several senior
management positions in operations, finance, marketing and business
development for both small package and supply chain services. Earlier
in his career he played a key role on the company's Acquisitions and
Financial Integration team, where he was responsible for establishing
UPS operations in 35 countries across Europe and Asia including the
United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore,
Thailand and Malaysia.
UPS, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2007, is the
world's largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply
chain services, offering an extensive range of options for
synchronizing the movement of goods, information and funds.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., UPS serves more than 200 countries and
territories worldwide. UPS's stock trades on the New York Stock
Exchange (UPS) and the company can be found on the Web at UPS.com.
