CSX Chief to Retire as Hunter Harrison Vies for Position--Update

By Austen Hufford and Paul Ziobro 

CSX Corp. said that Michael Ward, its chairman and chief executive, will retire in May as railroad veteran Hunter Harrison and an activist investor try to shake up the company and grab the top spot.

Mr. Harrison, the railroad veteran who announced his early departure from Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. in January , has been working with activist investor Paul Hilal to become the company's next chief executive.

CSX on Tuesday also announced plans to lay off 1,000 of about 4,500 management employees by the end of March. Most of the affected employees are in the company's Jacksonville, Fla.-headquarters, though the layoffs will also impact some field employees, spokesman Gary Sease said.

CSX privately offered the chief executive position to the 72-year-old Mr. Harrison, The Wall Street Journal reported last week, but negotiations broke down when Mr. Hilal refused to back away from some compensation and governance demands.

CSX also said Tuesday that President Clarence Gooden is retiring from the company later this year and that Fredrik Eliasson, its current chief sales and marketing officer, has been named president -- cementing that two of its top executives won't be staying, regardless of whether a deal is struck.

CSX said it has been considering the changes announced Tuesday for more than a year, and that the appointment of Mr. Eliasson isn't intended to "pre-empt or otherwise affect" discussions CSX is having with Mr. Harrison.

Write to Austen Hufford at [e-mail] and Paul Ziobro at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 21, 2017 13:41 ET (18:41 GMT)

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