Legendary rail executive Hunter Harrison dies at 73
JACKSONVILLE, Florida — Hunter Harrison, the plain-spoken, gruff American who rewrote the Canadian railroading book during his years heading both of this country’s largest railways, has died. He was 73.
CSX Corp., the American railroad Harrison began leading this year, issued a statement on Saturday announcing his death.
The company attributed his death to “unexpectedly severe complications from a recent illness,” the same reason offered when Harrison formally went on medical leave this past week.
“The entire CSX family mourns this loss. On behalf of our board of directors, management team and employees, we extend our deepest sympathies to Hunter’s family,” CSX said in the statement. “Hunter was a largerthan-life figure who brought his remarkable passion, experience and energy in railroading to CSX.”
Ewing Hunter Harrison was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on Nov. 7, 1944, and began his railway career in 1964 as a 19-year-old rail car oiler for the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway while attending Memphis State University.
He would eventually serve as the CEO of four major railways: Chicago-based Illinois Central Railroad, Montreal-based Canadian National Railway, Calgarybased Canadian Pacific Railway and CSX Corp.
Harrison became CEO of CN in 2003, succeeding Paul Tellier, and served in that position until his retirement at the end of 2009. He moved to his estate in Connecticut, where he raised and trained horses for show jumping.
In fall 2011, Harrison was approached by activist investor Bill Ackman, head of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, and enlisted to help with a proxy battle at CP Rail. After winning the crucial vote at the annual shareholder meeting in 2012, Ackman appointed Harrison as CEO, replacing Fred Green.
In early 2017, Harrison resigned from CP, five months earlier than scheduled, and became CEO of CSX, a U.S. competitor.
At CP, “he led a transformational turnaround,” said Keith Creel, Harrison’s hand-picked successor at the company.