- Push-out Score determined
- After almost 12 years in the position
- Praise and thanks for Dennis
- Mimi Vaughn taking over
- Dennis will remain as executive chairman at Genesco
- Dennis said 103 words
(exechange) — Nashville, Tennessee, November 4, 2019 — Bob Dennis, chief executive of Genesco, leaves his position. As announced by Genesco Inc. in a news release on Monday, November 4, 2019, Robert J. (Bob) Dennis leaves his post as chief executive officer at the specialty retailer of branded footwear and accessories after almost 12 years in the role, effective February 2, 2020.
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 7.4 years, according to data compiled by exechange. On an accumulated basis, around 27% of the CEOs who announced their departure over the past 12 months left their posts after more than 10 years.
Bob Dennis’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Mimi Eckel Vaughn, currently chief operating officer of Genesco Inc.
“A further step in our succession planning process”
Bob Dennis’s departure from the CEO post is explained as follows. Dennis said: “Mimi’s appointment as president and chief executive officer is a further step in our succession planning process, which began several years ago and led to her recent promotion as our chief operating officer.”
Dennis will remain as executive chairman at Genesco
“Vaughn will succeed Robert J. Dennis, 65, Genesco’s current chairman, president and chief executive officer, who will continue to serve as the Company’s executive chairman,” Genesco said.
Share price decline
The announcement follows a decline in Genesco Inc.’s share price of 49% since August 2014.
In the position of CEO since 2008
Bob Dennis became CEO of the Company in August 2008.
During his 15-year career with the Company, Dennis has led Genesco as president and chief executive officer for 11 years and served as chairman for the past nine years.
Matthew C. Diamond, 50, a veteran of Genesco’s board, and former chief executive officer of Alloy Media and Alloy, Inc., will continue to serve as the Company’s lead outside director.
Dennis joined Genesco in 2004 as chief executive officer of Hat World Corporation.
Dennis was named senior vice president of the Company in June 2004 and executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2005, with oversight responsibility for all the Company’s operating divisions, and became a director of the Company in 2006.
He was named president in 2006, chief executive officer in August 2008 and chairman in April 2010.
Prior to joining the Company, Dennis joined Hat World in 2001 from Asbury Automotive, where he was employed in senior management roles beginning in 1998.
Dennis was with McKinsey & Company, an international consulting firm, from 1984 to 1997, becoming a partner in 1990.
Dennis is also a director of CoreCivic Inc., a publicly-traded, full-service corrections management and real estate solutions provider, and HCA Holdings, Inc., a publicly-traded provider of health-care services.
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 Genesco and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 45.2019 ($).