GM CEO steps down as Obama denies additional funds

30 March 2009

After nine years at the helm of the tottering auomobile giant, GM CEO Rick Wagoner submitted his resignation, at the request of the Obama administration.

The resignation comes as a follow-up to the Obama administrations's decision to deny additional bailout funds to GM and Chrysler, setting the stage for a crisis in Detroit and putting in motion what could be the final two months of two American auto giants.

This may be the end of Big Auto in America as we know it.

In the wake of Rick Wagoner's resignation, Fritz Henderson, GM's president and chief operating officer, has become the new CEO, a treasury department official said.

Board member Kent Kresa, the former chairman and CEO of defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp., will be interim chairman of the GM board. One official said a majority of the GM board was expected to step down.

In progress reports filed with the government in February, GM asked for an extra $16.6 billion and Chrysler for another $5 billion. However, their restructuring plans, a condition for any more government aid, did not meet with the administration's approval.

Saying neither had submitted acceptable plans to receive more bailout money, President Barack Obama and his top advisers have determined that neither company is viable and that taxpayers will not spend untold billions more to keep the pair of automakers open forever.