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GM confirms it's in talks with Kerkorian about board seat

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Old Dec 8, 2005 | 01:25 AM
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NC 91 Z28's Avatar
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Post GM confirms it's in talks with Kerkorian about board seat

Some speculated that this would end up happening. I wonder how this would affect GM.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10371420/
Old Dec 8, 2005 | 01:54 AM
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Re: GM confirms it's in talks with Kerkorian about board seat

Originally Posted by NC 91 Z28
Some speculated that this would end up happening. I wonder how this would affect GM.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10371420/
Kerkorian got his seat late today.

http://www.autonews.com
Old Dec 8, 2005 | 03:00 AM
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Re: GM confirms it's in talks with Kerkorian about board seat

oh great....another bean counter
Old Dec 8, 2005 | 08:23 AM
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Re: GM confirms it's in talks with Kerkorian about board seat

Originally Posted by stangitr
oh great....another bean counter
More like another corporate raider
Old Dec 8, 2005 | 01:39 PM
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Re: GM confirms it's in talks with Kerkorian about board seat

Originally Posted by Brandon_Lutz
More like another corporate raider
Werd.
Old Dec 8, 2005 | 01:46 PM
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Re: GM confirms it's in talks with Kerkorian about board seat

he does own 10% of the company. Anybody with that much stock should have a say in how things are run. If they didn't want him to own that much, I'm sure they could have blocked his purchase of all that stock, pretty stupid when you need the capital though.
Old Dec 8, 2005 | 11:02 PM
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Re: GM confirms it's in talks with Kerkorian about board seat

I'm not sure whether I should be happy or apprehensive.
Old Dec 8, 2005 | 11:19 PM
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Re: GM confirms it's in talks with Kerkorian about board seat

How much "control" will he actually have?
Old Dec 9, 2005 | 12:00 PM
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Re: GM confirms it's in talks with Kerkorian about board seat

Hey maybe they can sell Pontiac to Toyota and then I can get a Firebird that is based on a Supra
Old Dec 9, 2005 | 01:06 PM
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Re: GM confirms it's in talks with Kerkorian about board seat

Originally Posted by HAZ-Matt
Hey maybe they can sell Pontiac to Toyota and then I can get a Firebird that is based on a Supra
According to this little article, it's deeper/bigger than that. His plans may include a complete merger with a japanese company like Toyota or Honda.
http://www.nypost.com/business/58523.htm

If anyone has access to this site and can post the full version, that would be great.
Old Dec 12, 2005 | 02:54 PM
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Re: GM confirms it's in talks with Kerkorian about board seat

I registered at nypost so I could post that article, and it took a while for me to get it confirmed. The confirmation email made me think of this thread. Sorry for resurrecting it if nobody wants to talk about it anymore.

KIRK INVITES MERGER-MAKER TO GM

By PAUL THARP

December 8, 2005 -- In his drive to reshape General Motors, billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian is calling in the same quarterback he used a decade ago to set up Chrysler for a surprise sale to German auto giant DaimlerBenz.

Some investors believe Kerkorian's best hope to rescue GM — and reap a multibillion-dollar killing — is through a replay of the Chrysler merger he forced with a foreign automaker, but this time with a Japanese giant, such as Toyota or Honda.

Detroit was abuzz yesterday over Kerkorian's quiet strategy in recent weeks that's expected to put veteran turnaround ace Jerome York on GM's board to do Kerkorian's bidding.

The 88-year-old Kerkorian, who made as much as $3 billion on the Chrysler merger in the early 1990s, is GM's largest individual shareholder with a 9.9 percent stake, half of which he snapped up since the summer as the stock sank toward a 19-year low.

Shares spiked yesterday 10 percent on news of York's role, which was first reported by Automotive News. It closed at $23.04, up 65 cents, or about 3 percent, in huge trading.

GM acknowledged it was in talks with Kerkorian about a board seat but declined to name his candidate.

"Every time Kerkorian makes an announcement, the stock goes up. But all he can do now on the board is to convince an Asian buyer to take GM off his hands for a premium," said fund chief Peter Schiff of Euro Pacific Capital, who doesn't own GM shares.

York, 67, a former veteran chief financial officer at Chrysler, orchestrated a deep cost-cutting turnaround in 1993 that led to the merger of Chrysler with the German automaker.

York subsequently went to IBM in 1993 to wage a sweeping cost-cutting strategy there. A West Pointer with a graduate engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, York in recent years has been a consultant to Kerkorian.
Old Dec 12, 2005 | 03:06 PM
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Re: GM confirms it's in talks with Kerkorian about board seat

But all he can do now on the board is to convince an Asian buyer to take GM off his hands for a premium
This gives me chills.

But then reality sets in, and I come to the realization that nobody will pay a premium for GM with it in the shape it's in. Not now anyways...

For good measure, keep him out regardless, especially if he's talking that way.
Old Dec 12, 2005 | 03:12 PM
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Re: GM confirms it's in talks with Kerkorian about board seat

must admit the last thing i'd want to see happen is GM get baught out

i really don't think it'd be a benefit to the Economy or to the industry, and especially not to the consumer.
Old Dec 12, 2005 | 03:23 PM
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Re: GM confirms it's in talks with Kerkorian about board seat

His name reminds me too much of the infamous Dr Kevorkian.
Old Dec 12, 2005 | 03:39 PM
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Re: GM confirms it's in talks with Kerkorian about board seat

Originally Posted by Threxx
His name reminds me too much of the infamous Dr Kevorkian.
Haha. I was un-knowingly pronouncing it that way till now.



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