WILMINGTON, DEL. — DuPont is bringing back former chief executive officer Edward D. Breen to lead the company as part of a management shakeup designed to spur improved operational performance.
Mr. Breen, who is currently executive chairman of DuPont, succeeds Marc Doyle. Mr. Breen was c.e.o. of DowDuPont from 2017-19, and prior to the merger of DuPont and The Dow Chemical Co. he had been chairman and c.e.o. of DuPont since 2015.
Prior to DuPont, Mr. Breen was chairman and c.e.o. of Tyco International P.L.C. from 2002-12. Before Tyco, he was president and c.e.o. of Motorola, and earlier was chairman, president and c.e.o. of General Instrument Corp.
“Since he first assumed the chairman and c.e.o. role of DuPont in 2015, Ed Breen led the company through an extensive transformation to further unlock the potential of its distinctive capabilities, innovative portfolio and deep customer relationships,” said Alexander M. Cutler, lead independent director at DuPont.
DuPont also announced that Lori D. Koch, vice-president of investor relations and corporate financial planning and analysis, has been named chief financial officer. She succeeds Jeanmarie Desmond.
Ms. Koch has held a variety of finance leadership roles at DuPont during her 17-year career. During the past four years she has worked closely with Mr. Breen and played a key role in strategy, planning and shareholder engagement across the DowDuPont transaction and subsequent split into three independent companies.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Koch held key finance roles at Comcast Business Communications and Lucent Technologies.
“After careful consideration, the board concluded now is the right time to make these leadership changes, including restoring Ed to the chief executive role to draw more directly on his substantial operating experience,” Mr. Cutler said. “The board is confident that together Ed and Lori will improve operational performance and ensure DuPont fully delivers on its significant potential for long-term value creation.”
DuPont also announced that Nicholas C. Fanandakis, a former c.f.o. at DuPont, will serve as senior adviser to the c.e.o. with a focus on driving the company’s restructuring effort.
Both Mr. Doyle and Ms. Desmond will depart DuPont, effective immediately.
“The board and I deeply appreciate Marc and Jean’s significant contributions over decades of service to the company,” Mr. Breen said. “Most recently, they led the company through a period of important transition, and we are grateful for their dedication to DuPont over the course of their careers.
“While we made some progress in 2019, we did not meet our own expectations, and we now need to move aggressively to secure our foundation for growth. We have solid businesses, but, as we discussed on our recent earnings call, we need to accelerate operational improvement and make sure we are taking appropriate action to deliver on our commitments for the year.
“Lori Koch will be a great partner in this effort. She has delivered consistently excellent results across a substantial career as a finance leader at DuPont and has significant knowledge of our businesses. Lori has demonstrated her expertise in developing and executing the right financial strategy to support the achievement of our business objectives.”