Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
AutoNation CEO named to Federal Reserve
As chairman, Mike Jackson will preside over bank’s board in Atlanta
Mike Jackson said his appointment as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta helps to further raise South Florida’s profile as “one of
the most vibrant, dynamic parts of the Southeast.”
AutoNation’s chairman and CEO Mike Jackson has been appointed chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the bank announced Wednesday.
As chairman, Jackson will preside over the bank’s board, which recommends changes in the discount rate, the interest rate for lending to other banks. Board members also help form U.S. monetary policy through economic information they provide to the bank’s president.
Additionally, Myron A. Gray, president of U.S. operations of United Parcel Service in Atlanta, was appointed as deputy chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s board of directors.
Jackson, who began serving his one-year term on Jan. 1, said on Wednesday that his expertise leading AutoNation “gives a window into the economy across America and gives very important insight to the Federal Reserve.” The CEO also said his appointment helps to further raise South Florida’s profile as “one of the most vibrant, dynamic parts of the Southeast.”
Jackson previously served on the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Miami Branch, and he led the branch’s board in 2013.
Fort Lauderdale-based AutoNation is one of South Florida’s largest public companies, with 2016 revenues of $21.6 billion compared with $20.9 billion for 2015. It employs 27,000 people nationwide and 3,500 in South Florida.
Jackson joined AutoNation as CEO in 1999 and assumed the role of chairman in 2002 and president in 2015. He has been driving a change to reflect higher consumer interest in used cars. AutoNation has been rolling out new used-car stores and repair centers. It announced a deal in November to provide repair services to Google-parent Alphabet’s selfdriving technology company, Waymo.
Before joining AutoNation, Jackson served as president and chief executive officer of Mercedes-Benz USA.
Other South Florida executives have been previously named to the bank board.
In the early 1990s, the board had its first chair from South Florida: Edwin Huston of Ryder System in Miami.
And Fort Lauderdale-based Right Management principal Thomas Shea was a director for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Miami branch, during the tenure of thenchairman Ben Bernanke, from 2006 to 2014.