GM woos CFO Chris Liddell away from Microsoft
By Donald Melanson 
posted December 21st 2009 4:13PM
posted December 21st 2009 4:13PM
As you may or may not have heard, Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell announced that he was leaving the company late last month, but neither he nor Microsoft was doing much talking at the time about what he would be doing next -- other than that he would be "looking at a number of opportunities that will expand his career beyond being a CFO." Well, it looks like he will still be a CFO after all -- this time at General Motors. That move was just made official today, and follows news earlier this month that GM's current CFO, Ray Young, would be transferring to China. As you might expect given the executive situation at GM, however, there's plenty of speculation that this hire might be more than what it seems, and folks already talking that Liddell may actually be being groomed to take over as CEO of the company once he gets a bit more experience in the automotive industry.
All that money and he can't afford Crest whitening strips.
@HektikLyfe haha
@HektikLyfe I think Chris is a Kiwi, so not so obsessed with appearance - typically more interested in other things in life that how he looks.
@joshuaj You don't have to be obsessed about your looks to care about clean/white teeth. Why comb your hair? Why buy an expensive suit? Why take a photo for that matter? If you are not going to stop smoking or drinking coffee you should at least give investors and business partners the impression that you don't have terribly nasty caffeine breath for the day you meet them. It really is a distraction. Moley moley moley moley...
@HektikLyfe lol great post, but it does bring focus to some real issues.
This guy looks like he is in a trance more than an aware person. And how does grabbing the ceo of an incompetent company suppose to help another incompetent company? I work for a NWO giant, I mean
multi-nation locations with products that would bring the entire world to an almost complete stand still including militaries if our products were removed worldwide. Our corp computers, 1000's of them were only switch from 2000 to XP in the last 14-15 months. There is no way the IT staff want to hit Vista yet here at the end of 2009, as they have enough problems to deal with.
So with such a horrible record (MS) how is one loser (in my personal opinion) going to help another loser?
And why can't he get his teeth whiter. According to the psychological studies his appearance denotes at least a minor mental dissociative disorder.
Don't let me get too deep, but this is the reason our world is in the shape it is. Too much corruption and incompetence.
Engineers will rule the world
@paul34
Never underestimate the power of software!
That's interesting hire on GM's (Government Motors') part. He's still initially going to be the number cruncher/ spreadsheet guy given his title.
Not sure how much input or learning-about-the-car-business he could do on that end. Now if he was hired as an operations guy to be groomed for the top spot, that's another story.
I'm sure a company such as GM with legacy pension plans, union deals and negotiating with foreign governments must be simply a nightmare to run on a day to day basis. If I were a betting man, if the company ever gets out from under the protective wing of the Obama administration, they're going to likely be broken up into pieces and swallowed up by companies like Hyundai.
well i guess if you want a challenging job, being the cfo of gm would be one of them :P
@(Unverified)
AAHHAAHAHA you think?
This is the easiest job in the world!
GM is shit!
GM will make no money!
There is nothing for this guy to do except beg OBAMER for more of AMERICAS hard working TAX dollars!
GM does not need a CFO, we all know what the report will be IN THE RED!
GM MAKES SHIT CARS so the profits will be DOWN THE SHITTER!
Give up you GM workers its over GM = SHIT!
HONDA will take over period!
This is what happens when you endulge in decadence!
FAT SLOBS AND CRAP CARS
@NAME
You're an angry little man, aren't you.
@(Unverified)
I bought a GM car.
My anger is justified.
dont judge me, pitty me.
@NAME What did you buy? Did you do your research ahead of time? New or used? Manual or slush?
good lord, that's a crazy looking photo!
@crawdad689
Thats exactly what i thought!
He seems pretty happy... too bad he's got some major challenges ahead...
Yikes, the outlook at Microsoft must be pretty bad if a financial insider jumps ship to GM.... Is he also going to be stepping into Tiger Woods shoes hawking Buicks?
@Canucker
Actually, I would think of it in the opposite. The big O and Google are so closely in bed with one another, why is Government Motors not hiring from Google?
Riddle me this Riddle me that...
"What do a Horse, Microsoft and GM have in common?"
They all put out SHITE!
Wow!
GM is well renown for crap cars.. Windows is the legacy of crap OS, and a Horse fed Beefareno.. well you know what manure is.
And I dont care what you losers say, The Malibu is a shit car. yea, for the first 3 years youown it its good, but after that it gets sent right to the garage every month for some stupid problem.
OBAMER should have let that crap GM die. And WTF is that about $$$ 4 ckunkers? that 1980 stationwagon was running to the grocery store every year for the last 30 years.. meanwhile you buy a GM car and then scrap it 5 years later... hmmm what is more damaging to the environment...
F-U OBAMER! HOW DARE YOU TRY TO ERASE AMERICAN HERITAGE OF THE BIG BLOCK MUSCLE CARS...
Fuel injection is the tool of the government. Keep that old Carburator car in your garage... you never know what crap OBAMER might try to pull on US of A.
When did Steve Carell go bald?!
@Bill Gates
Given that your ultimate plan is shooting Steve Jobs into the Sun with a giant slingshot, how does this fall into your scheme?? Do tell...
Well, maybe he's looking for a way to get easy money. Next on the news, more bailouts for GM from the loving taxpayers.
How many of you glanced at the Title, and thought, Chuck Liddell?
@TruUnknowN
I did.
That mugshot is seriously creeping me out...I mean, seriously. Cold-blooded axe murderer grin - you're doin it right!
Perhaps somebody at GM read the "what if Microsoft made cars" email forward and thought it was a good idea.
@Tyguy
how many updates does it take to boot up the car os to turn on engine and not stall on you... that might be a question only if. but microsoft is working on synch and supposedly you can put a speed limiter on the car not sure if it is based on the driver profile log-in or how?
"if Microsoft made cars"..joke has come true?