The DuPont board of directors Monday took the interim title away from Edward D. Breen. Breen is now CEO of the company based near Wilmington after the sudden departure in October of Ellen Kullman.
Breen joined the company’s board in February 2015 and by his own admission has been working seven-day weeks in restructuring operations and lowering costs. He is also in contact with rival companies in regard to possible mergers and other transactions at agricultural operations. That business has been in a slump.
“Ed Breen brings to DuPont an exceptional track record of business leadership and value creation. As a chief executive, he has consistently delivered superior returns through robust growth and portfolio strategies, across a range of industries. As a DuPont board member and interim chair and CEO, Ed has rapidly and actively engaged in advancing the transformation of DuPont,” said Alexander M. Cutler, DuPont’s lead independent director. “The board has concluded he is the right leader for the company. We could not be more pleased to appoint an executive of his experience and caliber to lead DuPont through its next stage of growth and achievement.”
“Since joining the board and certainly over the last month while serving as interim chair and CEO, I have developed a deep appreciation of DuPont’s fundamental strengths, significant advantages and future potential,” Breen stated. “I look forward to continuing to work closely with the team at DuPont and with the board of directors to deliver fully on that potential for our customers and our shareholders. In the near-term, we are staying very close to our customers to deliver the value enhancing solutions they expect from DuPont innovation – even as we work with urgency to improve shareholder returns.”
From 2002-2012, Breen served as chief executive officer of Tyco International plc, a company that had seeen its former CEO got to jail. Over the course of his tenure, Breen oversaw a restructuring, including two break-ups of the company resulting in the spin-offs of Covidien, Tyco Connectivity, ADT Corporation and the merger of Tyco Flow Control with Pentair.
Activist shareholder Nelson Peltz has pushed for more restructurings at DuPont, which last summer spun off its performance chemical business, now known as Chemours.
Prior to joining Tyco, Breen held senior management positions at Motorola, including as president and chief operating officer, and at General Instrument Corporation, including as chairman, president and chief executive officer. He has noted that his long stint at General Instrument involved growing and not breaking up the company.
