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DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Xerox Corp. (XRX) Chairman and Chief Executive Anne M. Mulcahy
will give up day-to-day oversight of the company she helped turn
around, retiring July 1 and being succeeded as CEO by President
Ursula M. Burns.
Mulcahy, 56 years old, will continue to serve as chairman of the
board. She became CEO eight years ago when the company was
struggling after a string of quarterly losses amid falling market
share and a probe regarding Xerox's accounting practices.
Burns was seen by many as Mulcahy's heir-apparent since her
election as President of Xerox in 2007.
"This has been long expected, long telegraphed," said Shannon
Cross, of Cross Research. "I think it's a pretty seamless
transition, I don't expect many changes."
Xerox spokesman Carl Langsenkamp said Mulcahy places tremendous
value on succession planning, and has "prepared Xerox for the time
when she chose to retire."
The company is being pinched by the global spread of economic
weakness as well as by the stronger dollar, because it gets most of
its revenue from overseas. Xerox makes printers both for offices
and large-scale production, but garners most of its sales from its
services businesses, which include maintenance contracts, printing
supplies and lease revenues.
"It has been a privilege leading Xerox," Mulcahy said in a
statement. "The decision to move on is made easy only in the fact
that Ursula Burns is so well positioned to take Xerox to the next
level. Our strategy is sound and well defined. And, despite a tough
economy, we are generating cash, building our technology and
services pipeline and poised for a period of steady profitable
growth in the future."
Mulcahy joined Xerox in 1976 as a sales representative, four
years before the 50-year-old Burns came on board as a mechanical
engineering summer intern. Burns became president in April 2007, a
post she will not keep. Xerox's Langsenkamp said the company hasn't
announced yet what it will do to fill the position.
Shares were recently down 6 cents, or 0.7%, to $6.85. Despite a
rebound in the past two months, the stock is still off by 50% in
the last year.
-By Kerry E. Grace, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5089;
kerry.grace@dowjones.com
(Jerry A. DiColo contributed to this report.)