By Robin Sidel And Joann S. Lublin
The president of American Express Co. collapsed and died on the
way home from a business trip Friday morning, sending shock waves
through the New York company where he had worked since he was a
college student.
Edward Gilligan, 55 years old, was traveling on a corporate
plane returning to New York from a trip to Japan when he fell ill,
the company said. Other executives were also on the plane, a
spokesman said.
Mr. Gilligan was viewed as a likely successor to Kenneth
Chenault, the company's longtime chief executive. Mr. Chenault, who
will be 64 years old next week, wasn't on the plane.
Mr. Gilligan was named president of AmEx in 2013, having served
in a number of key roles at the company, and was viewed as a strong
leader internally and by investors.
"His contributions have left an indelible imprint on practically
every area of our business, from commercial card and travel to
international, consumer, small business, merchant services, network
services and, most recently, the group forging our digital
partnerships and driving payment innovations," Mr. Chenault said in
a letter to the staff.
Mr. Gilligan's death leaves the company without a clear
successor at a time when it is facing a number of difficulties. Its
revenue has repeatedly fallen below its internal goals despite
strong credit trends.
The company recently announced that it would end a 16-year
relationship with Costco Wholesale Corp. in which its plastic was
the only credit-card accepted at the warehouse club. AmEx also lost
a high-profile antitrust lawsuit that was filed by the Justice
Department.
"In our view, his name was at the top of any succession planning
and his absence obviously hurts," wrote Sanjay Sakhrani, an analyst
at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, in a note to clients. Mr. Sakhrani
also said "there is a solid bench of executives at the
company."
American Express faces an unusual conundrum as boards typically
plan ahead for the sudden demise of their leader--rather than the
heir apparent, one succession specialist said.
Directors likely will quickly identify other potential Chenault
successors and try "to put them on an accelerated development
path," predicted Jeffrey Cohn, a CEO succession expert.
"The problem is there is no such thing as accelerated
development" for a CEO role, he added. "It takes time."
As a result, Mr. Cohn said, Mr. Chenault's retirement "just got
delayed by a couple of years."
While lacking a backup contender for CEO, "American Express is
in a better situation than most companies would be in this
situation," Mr. Cohn noted. "They do have a culture of leadership
development."
At the time of Mr. Gilligan's 2013 promotion, the company
credited him with increasing its share of online spending, enhanced
social media efforts and international expansion into new areas of
loyalty marketing.
He joined the board of Concur Technologies Inc. in 2008 in
conjunction with American Express's investment in the company,
which was sold to SAP SE in late 2014. He also previously served as
a director at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, according to
his LinkedIn profile.
Mr. Gilligan is survived by his wife and four children.
Write to Robin Sidel at robin.sidel@wsj.com and Joann S. Lublin
at joann.lublin@wsj.com
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