C&D Technologies Appoints Graves CEO - Forbes.com

C&D Technologies Appoints Graves CEO - Forbes.com: "C&D Technologies Appoints Graves CEO
06.22.2005, 06:34 PM

C&D Technologies Inc. said Wednesday that it named Jeffrey Graves president and chief executive to replace George MacKenzie, effective July 5.

MacKenzie, a director, had served in both roles on an interim basis since the March 24 resignation of former president and CEO Wade H. Roberts Jr.

Graves, 44, previously served as CEO of Kemet Electronics Corp., a manufacturer of capacitor technologies. Before that, Graves worked in various management positions at General Electric Co., Rockwell International Corp. and Howmet Corp.

Prior to Roberts' departure, the company fell to a third-quarter loss of $7.4 million, or 29 cents per share, down from profit of $4.2 million, or 16 cents per share, a year earlier. C&D also posted losses in its subsequent fourth and first quarters.

As the new head of the company, C&D said Graves will focus on top-line growth, acquisition integration and production improvement.

The company's shares closed up 18 cents, or 2.3 percent, at $8.19 on the New York Stock Exchange. "

Sony OKs firm's first foreign CEO - 06/23/05

Sony OKs firm's first foreign CEO - 06/23/05: "Sony OKs firm's first foreign CEO
Welsh-born chief hopes to turn around a company that has lost more than half its stock value in five years."

TOKYO -- Sony shareholders on Wednesday approved Howard Stringer, the Welsh-born head of the company's entertainment arm, as its new chief executive, making him the first foreigner to head the Japanese electronics, music and movie conglomerate.

Stringer, 63, a dual British-U.S. national, has helped turn Sony Corp.'s music and movie business into one of its few bright spots in recent years. He replaces Nobuyuki Idei, who led the Tokyo-based company for a decade.

The vote came at a shareholders meeting in Tokyo, packed with more than 6,000 people at a Tokyo hotel.

During the two-hour meeting, Stringer, Idei and other executives were questioned by investors about how Sony planned a comeback at a time when its stock price has plunged to less than half of what it was five years ago.

Stringer reassured investors that he planned to engineer Sony's revival and work to deliver global stature to the company even though he may be a foreigner.

"I am first and foremost a Sony warrior," he said. "This is our destiny, and this is our responsibility."

Stringer faces an enormous challenge in turning around Sony, which has been hit with losses in its consumer electronics business amid competition from cheaper Asian rivals. It has been weighed down with restructuring costs while getting beaten in key growing sectors, such as portable music players such as Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod.