Daniel Akerson

Daniel Akerson
Born	(1948-10-31) October 31, 1948 Oakland, California, U.S.
Occupation	Business executive
Known for	Former chairman and CEO of General Motors

Daniel Francis Akerson (born October 31, 1948) is the former chairman and CEO of General Motors, holding these positions from 2010 until 2014. He took over as CEO from Edward Whitacre on September 1, 2010, and assumed the role of chairman beginning January 1, 2011. His tenure was followed by General Motors CEO Mary Barra. Before joining GM, Akerson was a managing director and led global buyout efforts at The Carlyle Group. He became a member of GM’s board on July 24, 2009. Additionally, Akerson sits on the boards of American Express and the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation. In 2014, he returned to The Carlyle Group as vice chairman and special advisor.

Personal life

Akerson was born in Oakland, California and raised in Mankato, Minnesota, where he attended Mankato West High School. He currently lives in McLean, Virginia. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the United States Naval Academy (Class of 1970) and holds a Master of Science in economics from the London School of Economics. Between 1970 and 1975, he served as a naval officer aboard a destroyer.

His maternal lineage is of German descent, while his paternal ancestors were Swedish.

Career

In 1983, Akerson joined MCI Inc., where he held positions including CFO, president, and chief operating officer. He departed in 1993 to become chairman and CEO at General Instrument, succeeding former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Akerson was appointed CEO of Nextel in 1996; during his leadership, revenues increased dramatically from $171.7 million to more than $3.3 billion by 1998. After resigning in 1999, he was hired by Craig McCaw to lead Nextlink Communications, which was later renamed XO Communications. XO filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2002, and Akerson stepped down as CEO in December that year. In 2003, he joined The Carlyle Group, overseeing its largest private equity fund.

He joined the board of General Motors in July 2009 as a representative of the U.S. Treasury, which then owned a 61% stake in the company. On August 12, 2010, Akerson was appointed CEO of GM, succeeding Ed Whitacre; he became chairman on January 1, 2011. Under his guidance, GM achieved a record profit of $7.6 billion on sales totaling $150.3 billion in 2011. By December 2013, the U.S. Treasury sold its final remaining shares of GM common stock.

Rumors about Akerson’s retirement emerged in April 2013 after modifications were made to his compensation package. On December 10, 2013, GM announced that Mary Barra would succeed him effective January 15, 2014. His retirement reportedly came earlier than planned due to his wife’s advanced cancer diagnosis; nevertheless, on March 1, 2014, Akerson resumed his role at The Carlyle Group as vice chairman and special advisor to the board. As of February 2014, he also holds a position on the board of Lockheed Martin.

Political opinions

In August 2016, Akerson revealed that he would not support the Republican presidential nominee for the first time. In an op-ed published by The Washington Post, he criticized Donald Trump on several matters while endorsing Hillary Clinton.