New Senior Leadership Team Announced at Hughes Electronics; Armstrong To Take Top Post at AT&T
20 October 1997
New Senior Leadership Team Announced at Hughes Electronics; Armstrong To Take Top Post at AT&T
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 20 -- General Motors Corporation
(NYSE: GM, GMH) and Hughes Electronics Corporation today announced changes to
the Hughes Electronics senior leadership team. The GM and Hughes Electronics
boards of directors made the following new appointments, which are effective
immediately:
Michael T. Smith has been elected chairman and chief executive officer of
Hughes Electronics Corporation. Smith, 54, has been vice chairman of Hughes
Electronics. He replaces C. Michael Armstrong, who resigned today to become
chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T . GM Vice Chairman
Harry J. Pearce will continue to have oversight for Hughes Electronics on
behalf of the GM President's Council.
Charles H. Noski, 45, has been elected president of Hughes Electronics,
and a member of its board of directors. Noski, previously vice chairman of
Hughes Electronics, had recently joined United Technologies Corporation as
executive vice president and chief financial officer. Returning now to Hughes
Electronics as president, Noski will report to Smith.
Steven D. Dorfman, 62, was elected vice chairman of Hughes Electronics and
a member of the Hughes board of directors. He had been executive vice
president and chairman of the Hughes Telecommunications and Space (HTS)
Company. In his new position, he will continue to have oversight of the
satellite-related manufacturing operations. Dorfman will report to Smith.
"I am confident that this leadership team will continue to carry out our
vision for Hughes Electronics," said GM Vice Chairman Pearce. "The strategy
is to leverage Hughes' strength in telecommunications technology in order to
secure a leadership position in the emerging telecommunications services
industry. That strategy is sound, and its implementation is underway. I
would add that the telecommunications and space business is not for sale," he
said.
"Finally and most importantly," Pearce continued, "the GM Board and the
employees of Hughes Electronics know, and have confidence in, these
individuals. This is the leadership team that worked to lay the foundation
for the future of Hughes Electronics. So, I believe that a smooth transition
is assured."
Smith has been a member of the Hughes Electronics management team since
the subsidiary's first year of operation in 1986. "I believe the capabilities
of our senior management team can be described in three simple words: Strong,
credible, experienced," said Smith. "We have in place the same management
team that has been working on our successes over many years, and I fully
expect continued success."
"We're not going to miss a beat in completing our restructuring
transactions, including our meetings with investors scheduled during the month
of November," said Smith. "In the longer term, we expect to continue growing
Hughes' telecommunications and space business at a projected rate of about
20 percent a year for the next five years."
GM recently announced that it is moving forward with restructuring
transactions that include the spin-off of Hughes Defense and its merger with
Raytheon, the transfer of Delco Electronics from Hughes Electronics to GM, and
the recapitalization of GM Class H stock into a New GM Class H stock that has
a tracking interest in the telecommunications and space business.
Armstrong, who had been chairman and CEO of Hughes Electronics since 1992,
said: "Hughes Electronics is a great and dynamic company, and I am extremely
optimistic about its future. Mike Smith is highly qualified to take over the
helm, and I fully support the implementation of the plans for restructuring
Hughes' three businesses. Finally, I am very thankful to the employees of
Hughes Electronics for working together on the many successes we've attained
over the years."
Forward-looking Statements
Statements made herein concerning the Hughes restructuring transactions
and the growth strategy of Hughes Electronics constitute forward-looking
information. The realization of benefits from the Hughes restructuring
transactions is subject to numerous uncertainties and risks which are
described in GM's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and
which will be described in the consent solicitation statement/prospectus for
the transactions.
Biographical Information:
Michael T. Smith
Michael T. Smith is chairman and chief executive officer of Hughes
Electronics. Previously, he has served as vice chairman of Hughes Electronics
Corporation since 1992, and chairman of the $6.3 billion in revenue Hughes
Aircraft Co. business of Hughes Electronics that includes its aerospace,
defense electronics and information systems businesses.
Smith has been a member of the Hughes Electronics management team since
the subsidiary's first year of operation in 1986, after spending nearly
20 years with General Motors in a variety of financial management positions.
In 1989, he was named executive vice president and chief financial officer.
He has also served as chairman of Hughes Missile Systems Company, a subsidiary
composed of the former General Dynamics missile operations acquired by Hughes
in 1992, and the former Hughes Missile Systems Group.
Smith began his GM career in 1968 in the accounting department at GM's
assembly plant in Framingham, Mass. He has held a variety of financial
management positions at GM, including the comptroller's staff, the GM
Treasurer's Office in New York, and GM Espana, GM's subsidiary in Spain.
Born October 5, 1943, in Worcester, Mass., Smith holds a bachelor's degree
in political science at Providence College, and an MBA from Babson College in
1971. He served as an officer in the U.S. Army, including a combat tour in
Vietnam.
Charles H. Noski
Charles H. Noski is president of Hughes Electronics and a member of the
company's board of directors. Previously, he had been vice chairman and chief
financial officer of Hughes Electronics Corporation until being named
executive vice president and chief financial officer of United Technologies in
August 1997.
Noski came to Hughes Electronics in 1990 as corporate vice president and
controller, serving as the company's chief accounting officer. He was
previously with the international accounting and consulting firm of Deloitte &
Touche as supervising partner for its services to Hughes Electronics.
Noski joined Haskins & Sells (which, through merger, later become Deloitte
& Touche) in 1973. He served in a variety of management roles in the firm's
services to Hughes Electronics from 1975 to 1990 and was Deloitte & Touche's
national industry director for services to the aerospace and defense industry.
He became a partner of the firm in 1983.
Born August 23, 1952, in Eureka, Calif., Noski received a bachelor's
degree in business administration, magna cum laude, from California State
University, Northridge, as well as a master's degree in accountancy.
Steven D. Dorfman
Steven D. Dorfman is vice chairman of Hughes Electronics Corporation and a
member of its board of directors. Previously, he had been chairman of the
Hughes Telecommunications and Space Company (HTS) since 1993. HTS is the
world's leading manufacturer of communications satellites, and a major
provider of government space systems.
He had served for more than two years as president of Hughes Space and
Communications Company, and for five years as the number two executive in the
Space and Communication Group, where he helped develop and implement the
strategies that led to the doubling of the organization's sales during this
time period.
Prior to his Group assignment, Dorfman was president and chief executive
officer of Hughes Communications, Inc. (HCI), from 1983-86, responsible for
developing the successful Galaxy, Leasat and JCSat systems, as well as
initiating the direct broadcast satellite (DBS) and mobile satellite programs.
Dorfman joined Hughes in 1957 and, in subsequent years, held positions of
increasing responsibility in management, systems engineering and
electro-optics. Among his many other assignments, he has had responsibility
for advanced NASA programs, and his work on the Pioneer Venus Program earned
him a Distinguished Public Service Medal, NASA's highest award. He is a
member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Born in 1935 in New York City, he holds a bachelor's degree in electrical
engineering from the University of Florida, and a master's degree in the same
field from the University of Southern California.
SOURCE General Motors Corporation