ITW Announces CEO Succession Plan - Seite 2

Richard H. Lenny, who will remain Lead Independent Director of the Board, said, “Chris is a highly respected leader who has played an integral role in executing our highly successful Enterprise Strategy. He has demonstrated a deep understanding of the dynamics of ITW’s unique business model and what it takes to leverage it to win in the marketplace. Chris is uniquely qualified to lead the company through the next phase of ITW’s Enterprise Strategy and sustain the foundational strengths we have built over the past decade. The changes announced today are the culmination of a rigorous and thorough multi-year succession planning process. The Board fully expects that the transition will be seamless. With a world-class leadership team supporting Chris, we’re confident that the company will continue to deliver highly differentiated performance throughout our next phase.”

Mr. Lenny continued, “On behalf of his fellow directors, I want to thank Scott for his eleven years of exceptional leadership as CEO. During Scott’s tenure, he delivered superior shareholder value far outpacing ITW’s peer group. Together with Chris and our leadership team, he instilled greater focus, efficiency, and discipline into ITW’s growth strategy and operations, and built a company that can withstand and thrive in the most challenging of operating environments. As a result, ITW today is widely recognized as one of the world’s highest quality, best performing, and most respected industrial companies. We are delighted that the company and the board will continue to have the benefit of Scott’s guidance and counsel as our Non-Executive Chairman.”

Mr. O’Herlihy stated, “I want to thank Scott and the board for their trust and confidence in electing me as ITW’s next CEO. I am incredibly humbled by the opportunity to lead this great company, our exceptionally talented leadership team, and our 46,000 dedicated ITW colleagues around the world. Our core competitive advantage as a company remains the unique and highly differentiated ITW Business Model. We have accomplished a great deal together over the last eleven years in executing our Enterprise Strategy to leverage the powerful set of strategic, operational, and cultural practices that comprise the ITW Business Model to their full potential. As a result, our company has never performed better or been better positioned for the future. The central focus of the next phase of our Enterprise Strategy is to elevate high-quality organic growth and Customer-Back Innovation as key ITW differentiators on par with our best-in-class operational capabilities and financial performance. Our leadership team and I are deeply committed to doing just that in delivering on ITW’s 2030 enterprise performance goals.”