Interesting development, just yesterday. -hms-
_____ From: B.DORPI P. [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2009 8:00 AM To: !B.DORPI P. Subject: Re.: Charles Goodyear to replace Ho Ching as Temasek CEO from Oct 1 Importance: High http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/407246/1/. html Posted: 06 February 2009 1635 hrs Charles Goodyear to replace Ho Ching as Temasek CEO from Oct 1 By Nicholas Fang, Channel NewsAsia SINGAPORE: Ms Ho Ching is stepping down as CEO and executive director of Temasek Holdings after six years at the helm. American Charles W Goodyear will take over as CEO from October 1. At a media conference on Friday, Temasek said the leadership change is part of the investment company's succession planning process. Temasek also said it had begun the search for a successor for Ms Ho as early as 2005. Temasek chairman S Dhanabalan said that the board had debated whether or not to proceed with such a major change, given the turbulence in the global economy. He admitted there is a risk in changing leadership when the current leader and management team are doing a good job. But Temasek decided to move ahead with the change in view of its long-term interests. Mr Dhanabalan said: "The team had already embarked on a different stance since mid-2007, and has begun to review its long-term plans under various scenarios prompted by the economic downturn. "The board is of the view that, if we are to bring in new leadership, it would be just a good a time as any to involve a new leader in this review process." He also said that the addition of Mr Goodyear adds a more international flavour to Temasek's management team. The 51-year-old, known as "Chip" to friends and colleagues, is the former CEO of Australia's BHP Billiton, the world's largest diversified resources company headquartered in Australia with operations in 25 countries and a market value of approximately US$125 billion. Mr Goodyear has been with the company since 1999 and was appointed CEO in 2003. He joined Temasek's board of directors on February 1. Mr Goodyear's experience is expected to fit in with Temasek's long-term investment philosophy. He said: "Temasek and BHP Billiton, a company in the resource and mining business, have a very long-term focus to the way they invest. In the resource business, our payoff times are in decades." During the media conference, Mr Dhanabalan said the change in CEO was not linked to recent loss-making investments by Temasek, or to Ms Ho being the wife of Singapore's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong. Ms Ho is also stepping down from her executive director post at Temasek and she explained why she has decided not to stay on as a member of the board. She said: "It's not a one-man show. Chip will definitely be a first among equals, as I am. This is an organisation that is both bottoms-up as well as top-down. "It's never a one-way street. It's an organisation of people, of ideas, with a lot of energy. So I don't see myself as needing to hang around to direct things in any way, shape or form." When asked about her future plans, Ms Ho said that she is currently still focused on Temasek and will decide her next move when she hands over the reins to Mr Goodyear in October. Ms Ho joined Temasek as a director in January 2002 and became its executive director in May 2002. She has been its executive director and CEO since January 2004. Temasek Holdings is an Asian investment house headquartered in Singapore. It manages a portfolio with a net value of about S$185 billion or US$134 billion, weighted towards Singapore and Asia. - CNA/ir [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
