Amex Reshuffles Its Executive Deck

The unexpected death of American Express President Ed Gilligan late last month continues to reverberate at the company, most recently in the form of the realignment of several positions at Amex.

In an internal memo made public yesterday (June 24), American Express Chairman and CEO Ken Chenault begins by addressing Gilligan’s passing and expresses gratitude to all who have participated in paying tribute to the late president over the last few weeks.

Turning the focus to the future, Chenault writes, “Honoring Ed’s memory isn’t just about looking back; it is also about moving forward.” With that, Chenault lays out a number of key personnel changes. The first listed is that Steve Squeri will take on responsibility for OPEN — Amex’s small business payments provider — and Enterprise Growth, while continuing to oversee the company’s shared services organization, Global Corporate Payments.

Of Squeri, Chenault remarks, “These additional responsibilities are a reflection of Steve’s strong track record in leading several of our businesses over his 30-year Amex career and will broaden his experience in some key areas of our company.” He added that Squeri will be promoted to vice chairman of American Express.

Additionally, Doug Buckminster, president of Global Network and International Card Services, is being put in charge of One Europe; John Hayes, chief marketing officer, will take on additional responsibility for the Digital Partnerships and Development team, the name of which is actually being changed to Global Brand, Marketing and Digital Partnerships; and Paul Fabara, president of Global Banking and the Global Network Business, will be elected an officer of the company.

All of the personnel mentioned in Chenault’s memo (including those not mentioned here), he adds, will continue to report to him, and all of the changes are effective immediately.

Before diving into context on some of American Express’ various programs, Chenault notes that “over the coming weeks, the heads of the staff groups will assess the impact of this realignment on the support they provide the businesses and make any changes, as needed.”

To check out what else is HOT in the world of payments, click here.