Dan Ammann

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Dan Ammann
Born1972 (age 5051) [1]
Eureka, New Zealand
Alma mater University of Waikato
Occupation(s)Head of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions
Former CEO of Cruise

Dan Ammann is a New Zealand business executive. He is the former CEO of Cruise, having served as the President of General Motors (GM) between 2015 and 2019. Ammann joined GM as Treasurer following its 2009 bankruptcy, and also served as the company's CFO. Prior to GM, Ammann was a managing director and head of industrial investment banking for Morgan Stanley. Ammann today is currently head of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions. [2]

Contents

Early life

Dan Ammann was born and raised in Eureka, a rural area outside of Hamilton, New Zealand. In 1994, he graduated from the University of Waikato with a bachelor of management studies. [3] [4]

Investment banking

Ammann began his career as an investment banker, [5] starting at Credit Suisse First Boston in 1993. [3] He moved to New York City in 1997, [1] and continued to work for Credit Suisse until moving to Morgan Stanley in 1999. In 2004, [3] he was appointed the position of managing director and head of industrial investment banking for Morgan Stanley. [6] At Morgan Stanley, Ammann worked with clients in the technology, service, and manufacturing industries, helping with mergers, acquisitions, raising capital, and restructuring. [7] He was also the lead advisor on GM's bankruptcy reorganization. [1]

GM

Ammann joined GM in 2010 as the company's treasurer [8] following the company's bankruptcy restructuring. In November 2010, he managed GM's initial public offering. [9] He became the company's CFO in 2011. [7] In addition to helping lead GM's automotive business, he also led GM Financial. [6] Ammann then served as executive vice president of GM, [6] before becoming the company's president in January 2014. [10] [11] After Ammann became president of GM, the New Zealand Herald wrote that he had become "one of the most powerful Kiwi businessmen in the world". [12] As of 2014, he was also one of GM's few test drivers certified to drive at the Nürburgring. [13]

As president, he led product groups including Chevrolet, Cadillac [14] and Cruise. In 2018, Ammann transitioned leadership of the Cadillac brand to GM product chief Mark Reuss in order to spend more time focusing on Cruise. [15] Ammann helped guide the 2016 acquisition of Cruise [9] and was subsequently closely involved with its leadership, [16] growing the company from 40 to around 1,000 employees. [17] During his tenure, Ammann led GM to transition its focus to electric and automated vehicles. [8]

In 2016, Ammann joined the Lyft board of directors when GM invested $500 million in the company. [18] He departed the board two years later. [19]

Cruise

Ammann served as the President of GM until 1 January 2019, [8] [20] when he was named the CEO of Cruise, the self-driving automobiles division of GM. [21] As CEO of Cruise, he also remained a member of the GM CEO's leadership team. [5] Ammann left Cruise in December 2021 without explanation from GM or Cruise. [22]

ExxonMobil

In 2022, ExxonMobil announced that Ammann had joined them as the head of the company's low carbon solutions division. [2] ExxonMobil's CEO Darren Woods stated "We welcome Dan to ExxonMobil and will use his knowledge and experience to continue to build our Low Carbon Solutions business". [23]

Personal life

Ammann is married and has two children. [3]

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References

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  2. 1 2 Cavcic, Melisa (23 March 2022). "ExxonMobil's low-carbon business gets new boss as current one steps down". Offshore Energy. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Stevenson, Rebecca (11 March 2011). "Profile: Dan Ammann". Stuff.
  4. "Our man at GM". The University of Waikato. August 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  5. 1 2 DeBord, Matthew. "GM President Dan Ammann is taking over as CEO of the Cruise self-driving division as the company pushes toward a commercial launch in 2019". Business Insider.
  6. 1 2 3 "Meet Dan Ammann, one of Fast Company's Most Creative People". Fast Company.
  7. 1 2 Harris, Roy (11 March 2011). "New GM CFO Ammann Brings Investing Skills to the Job". CSO Online.
  8. 1 2 3 "Ammann's move shifts GM leadership dynamic". Automotive News. 3 December 2018.
  9. 1 2 Burden, Melissa (29 November 2018). "Architect of Cruise deal now gets to run the company". Automotive News. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  10. David Welch (6 February 2019). "New CEO of GM's Cruise to Get Millions If Unit Sells or Has IPO". Bloomberg.
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  13. Maetzig, Rob (8 October 2014). "From Kiwi cows to GM cars". Stuff. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
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  15. Naughton, Nora. "Top GM execs get new responsibilities under AV push". Detroit News.
  16. Naughton, Nora. "GM looks to new president Mark Reuss for electric, driverless future". Detroit News.
  17. Colias, Mike (29 November 2018). "GM President Dan Ammann to Take New Role as Head of Autonomous-Car Business". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  18. Isaac, Mike (4 January 2016). "General Motors, Gazing at Future, Invests $500 Million in Lyft". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  19. Newcomer, Eric (6 June 2018). "General Motors President Leaves Lyft's Board, Picks Replacement". Bloomberg. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  20. "GM's incentive plan for Cruise chief points to IPO: SEC filing". Reuters. 7 February 2019 via www.reuters.com.
  21. DeBord, Matthew. "Speculation about an IPO of GM's Cruise self-driving division is premature". Business Insider.
  22. Korosec, Kirsten (16 December 2021). "Longtime GM exec Dan Ammann is out as Cruise CEO". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  23. "ExxonMobil appoints Dan Ammann president of Low Carbon Solutions; Joe Blommaert to retire". ExxonMobil. Retrieved 31 August 2022.