CSX CEO Harrison dies months into railroad’s turnaround effort

NEW YORK: CSX Corp Chief Executive Hunter Harrison has died, the freight railway operator said on Saturday, just a few days after announcing that the veteran rail executive hired earlier this year to boost its profits had taken a medical leave of absence.

Harrison, 73, died “due to unexpectedly severe complications from a recent illness,” the company said in a statement, adding that he would be succeeded for now by acting CEO Jim Foote.

“We are immensely grateful for the opportunity to have worked with the railroad legend,” Foote said in a letter to employees of CSX, which has some 21,000 miles of track, mostly east of the Mississippi River, adding that it would “honour his legacy by staying focused” on his business plan.

Harrison, hired as CEO in March at the urging of activist investor Paul Hilal, had been in the midst of an ambitious and sometimes controversial effort to overhaul CSX by laying off employees and streamlining operations.

Seen using an oxygen tank when meeting with investors last month, he had been hired at CSX on a four-year contract with an estimated value of $300 million.

“The board will continue to consider in a deliberative way how best to maximize CSX’s performance over the long-term,” CSX Chairman Edward Kelly said in a statement that called Harrison a “larger-than-life figure.”

News of Harrison’s leave, announced late on Thursday, sent the number 3 US railway’s shares tumbling as much as 10 per cent in Friday trading on the Nasdaq. Despite that, the stock is up 47 per cent so far this year. — Reuters