Updated: 5:59 p.m.
Outgoing GM CFO Chris Liddell says he only began wrestling with whether to leave GM in the past few weeks, and he and boss Dan Ackerson have been discussing the subject only for the past week.
Liddell says he has no announcement to make as to his next job, but he thinks it will not be a chief financial officer position.
GM CEO Dan Akerson says the transition, from Liddell to his successor, current GM Treasurer Dan Ammanns, should be "seamless."
Akerson says he's committed to remain at the helm of GM for the next five years. Dan Ammanns also stresses his plan to stay for the long term.
Investors in GM's initial public offering in November had been assured that GM's leadership would stabilize.
Sheldon Stone is with Amherst Partners, a restructuring consultant firm.
Stone says some investors will likely be concerned about Liddell's departure.
"He (Liddell) was part of that road show, that went out pitching the IPO," says Stone. "He had his fingerprints all over it.
Stone says GM needs change. But this may be too much change.
GM has had four CEOs in the past year. Several senior executives have left GM in the past year. And the deck of senior management has been shuffled and re-shuffled several times.
Ken Elias is an analyst with the consultant firm Maryann Keller & Associates.
He says Liddell, formerly CFO of Microsoft, was brought to GM by former CEO Ed Whitaker, with the understanding that Liddell would be groomed as Whitaker's successor.
But months after Liddell began his new job at GM, Whitaker stepped down as CEO. GM's Board chose Board member Dan Akerson to lead the company.
Elias says that could account for Liddell's decision, after the IPO was completed, to leave GM.
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General Motors says its Chief Financial Officer will step down as of April 1st. Chris Liddell will be replaced by Treasurer Dan Ammann. The Associated Press reports:
Spokeswoman Noreen Pratscher said Thursday that Liddell accomplished his goals of finishing an initial public stock offering and returning the company to sound financial footing. She says Liddell did not say anything about his plans for the future. Under Liddell, GM posted four straight profitable quarters. Spokeswoman Noreen Pratscher said Liddell accomplished his goals of finishing an initial public stock offering and returning the company to sound financial footing. She says Liddell did not say anything about his plans for the future. The 52-year-old Liddell joined GM in January of 2010, about six months after it emerged from bankruptcy protection. Chairman and Chief Executive Dan Akerson said Liddell was a major contributor to GM during a pivotal time in the company's history. "He guided the company's IPO process and established a good financial foundation for the future," Akerson said in a statement. GM reported net income of $4.7 billion last year, fueled by strong sales in China and the U.S. as the global auto market began to recover. It earned $2.89 per share on revenue of $135.6 billion. It was the company's best performance since earning $6 billion in 1999 during the height of the pickup truck and sport utility vehicle sales boom. Liddell replaced Ray Young, who was transferred to GM's operations in China. Steven Rattner, former head of the government's autos task force, has said that GM had the weakest finance operation that task force members had seen in a major company. But last quarter, GM said that its accounting problems had been repaired. Detroit-based GM sought bankruptcy protection in 2009 and accepted nearly $50 billion in government help. But the company has since made an impressive recovery with global sales growing 12 percent last year. GM's owners, the U.S. Treasury Department, the Canadian (federal) and Ontario governments and a union health care trust fund, sold common stock in the November IPO. The U.S. government got $13.5 billion from the sale and will have to sell its remaining shares for $53 each to break even on its aid to GM.
