Pinnacle West CEO Don Brandt leaves

  • Push-out Score determined
  • After almost 11 years in the position
  • Praise for Brandt
  • Jeff Guldner taking over
  • Brandt kept it short and said 37 words

(exechange) — Phoenix, Arizona, August 22, 2019 — Don Brandt, chief executive of Pinnacle West, leaves. As announced by Pinnacle West Capital Corp. in a news release published on Wednesday, August 21, 2019 and in a regulatory filing published on Thursday, August 22, 2019, Donald E. (Don) Brandt leaves his post as Chief Executive Officer at the utility holding company after almost 11 years in the role, effective November 15, 2019.

Among the 3,000 largest publicly held companies incorporated in the U.S. based on market capitalization, the average tenure of the CEOs who announced their departure over the past 12 months was 7.2 years, according to data compiled by exechange. On an accumulated basis, around 26% of the CEOs who announced their departure over the past 12 months left their posts after more than 10 years.

Don Brandt’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Jeffrey B. (Jeff) Guldner, currently President of APS.

Pinnacle West is the parent company of APS.

“Orderly succession plan”

Don Brandt’s departure from the CEO post is explained as follows. Pinnacle West said: “Speaking on behalf of the Pinnacle West board, Lead Director Kathy Munro said they had worked to develop an orderly succession plan in the executive office for some time.”

Precise information regarding Don Brandt’s future plans was not immediately available.

“Retire”

Pinnacle West said: “The Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (NYSE: PNW) Board of Directors announced that after 16 years with the Company, Pinnacle West Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Don Brandt will retire effective November 15, 2019.”

Pinnacle West further said: “Donald E. Brandt will retire from his positions as Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of Pinnacle West and as Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of APS effective November 15, 2019.”

Share price increase since May 2009

The announcement follows an increase in The Pinnacle West Capital Corp.’s share price of 197% since May 2009.

In the position of CEO since 2009

Don Brandt became CEO of the Company in April 2009.

Donald Brandt is Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle West and Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Arizona Public Service (APS).

In 2009, Brandt was elected to Pinnacle West’s board of directors and promoted to Chairman, President and CEO of Pinnacle West and Chairman and CEO of APS. Before assuming these responsibilities, Brandt held several leadership positions with the company, including APS president, executive vice president and chief financial officer.

Prior to joining Pinnacle West in 2002, Brandt gained 20 years of power industry experience. He served as senior vice president and chief financial officer at Ameren Corporation, a St. Louis-based energy company.

Prior to Ameren, he was at Price Waterhouse & Co., where he provided accounting, audit and consulting services to Fortune 500 public companies.

A recognized industry leader, Brandt currently serves as chairman of the Nuclear Energy Institute and vice chairman of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations.

He also sits on the board of the Edison Electric Institute.

Brandt is a leader in the community as well, serving on the boards of the McCain Institute, the Phoenix Art Museum and the Nature Conservancy in Arizona.

Brandt earned his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from St. Louis University.

Push-out Score determined

The Push-out Score™ determined by exechange gauges the pressure surrounding the management change on a scale of 0 to 10.

exechange reached out to Pinnacle West and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.

Read the full story in the exechange report 34.2019 ($).