Xerox Corp has named Richard Thoman as its new president and CEO, in a widely anticipated appointment. Thoman, 54, replaces Paul Allaire, 60, who will stay on as chairman for a further year. Thoman joined Xerox as president and chief operating officer in June 1997 (CI No 3,181), and will retain the title of president.
Before that he was chief financial officer at IBM Corp, a post he took on in 1995 following the swingeing cuts he imposed on the IBM Personal Computer Co a year earlier. The cuts were painful at the time but ultimately responsible for getting its costs and product schedules back into line – at least until the recent plunge in profit margins. Thoman worked at IBM as number two to CEO Louis Gerster. The two first met when they both worked at American Express.
At Xerox, Thoman became responsible for day to day operations, and introduced Xerox products into low-end retail sales channels. Thoman also increased marketing at the company. His task will be to complete AllaireÆs transformation of Xerox from a photocopier company into a digital systems vendor. Digital products made up over half of the company’s $5.05bn revenues in the fourth quarter.
