I wanted to update GM's scorecard. GM released their 2008 earnings. The good news is that Rick's performance improved by $7 Billion from 2007. The bad news is that GM still lost over $30 Billion in 2008. That's a whopping (negative) $327,000 per employee!
Now during Rick's tenure, GM has lost a cumulative $67 Billion. I hate to break the news to GM shareholders but this guy is not a winner. He looks like a winner but he is NOT a winner.
GM has asked for a total of $25 Billion to save the company. That comes out to over $250,000 for every single employee at GM (most of whom will be laid off over the next few years). I wonder if we wouldn't all be better off giving this money to the employees to start their own businesses or maybe just to give them a 4 year vacation.
I have one simple question, why does Rick still have a job?
Well it is a great question and the right question...at least on the surface. Yet anyone who digs into GM's issues and what they are doing about them -- from the board, to obama's auto team, to the bush treasury team, to any number of serious auto journalists who understand the industry all come away saying, Wagoner is the right guy to fix this company. And when people spend any time with Wagoner going through the issues they are even more convinced. In fact, at some point, the fact that Wagoner is still there after all the losses (many contend would have been much worse without wagoner) becomes a proof point in and of itself that he is the right guy....I know that may not convince you but the story is not finished yet on this company or on Wagoner so in time you may find an answer that satisfies your query.
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