October 6, 2009
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News: AmEx President Resigns
In a surprising twist, Alfred Kelly President of the American Express credit card company announced he will be leaving the financial giant to seek a Chief Executive position with another firm. The name of the firm was not released, however, there is some speculation it could be one of three; Bank of America Corp, Fidelity Investments, and E*Trade Financial Corp. Bank of American Corp is the nation's largest credit card company and has been viewing CEO candidates since the company's current CEO Kenneth Lewis announced his retirement at the end of the year. Some analysts have said that the chances of Kelly going on board with Bank of America are slim since there has been no mention of his name being on the short list. Mr. Kelly has been with American Express for 22 years. Prior to his promotion two years ago to President, he headed the company's consumer and small business credit card division. The company's CEO, Kenneth Chenault said in a statement that it was no secret that Kelly's goals included running a company as CEO. Chenault has no plans for stepping down anytime soon which leaves Kelly no alternative but to seek a position with another company.
Positioning a new President will not be the only management changes the giant credit card company will experience. American Express has created a new global services division that will be headed by Steve Squeri and include business processing, information management, customer service, technologies, and operations. Previously, Squeri headed the technologies and corporate development. Additionally, a new enterprise growth division aimed at increasing credit card fee revenue and growing the company's share of the market will also be developed. American Express has not yet named the individual who will be heading the enterprise growth division.
American Express did very well under the direction of Kelly. While all major credit card companies were reporting loss profits, American Express was the only card company to report a profit and hailed as the top performer. The company is also one of the few lenders who received taxpayer funds from the government bailout program to repay their debt.