By Josh Beckerman
American Express Co. said President Edward Gilligan died after
becoming ill on a flight home to New York on Friday morning.
Mr. Gilligan, who was 55 years old, was widely considered the
heir apparent to Chief Executive Kenneth Chenault.
He was named the company's president two years ago and joined
American Express in 1980 while still a student at New York
University. He served as vice chairman beginning in 2007.
"His contributions have left an indelible imprint on practically
every area of our business," Mr. Chenault said in a letter to the
staff.
Mr. Gilligan was responsible for the company's global consumer,
small business services, merchant services and network services
groups, and Mr. Chenault said in the letter that he would now
oversee Mr. Gilligan's direct reports.
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.
Mr. Gilligan 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.
He is survived by his wife, Lisa, and children Katie, Meaghan,
Kevin and Shane.
Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com
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