Perimeter CEO Eddie Goldberg leaves post

  • After about five years in the position
  • Praise and thanks for Goldberg
  • Haitham Khouri taking over
  • Goldberg will remain as Vice Chairman at Perimeter
  • Goldberg said 93 words

(exechange) — Clayton, Missouri, March 9, 2023 — Eddie Goldberg, chief executive of Perimeter, leaves his position. As announced by Perimeter Solutions SA in a news release and in a regulatory filing published on Thursday, March 9, 2023, Edward (Eddie) Goldberg has left his post as chief executive officer at the maker of firefighting products and lubricant additives, after about five years in the role, effective March 8, 2023.

The average tenure of CEOs who announced their departure over the past 12 months was 8.2 years. This is according to data collected by CEO-exit research firm exechange.

exechange tracks CEO departures at the 3,000 largest publicly traded companies in the U.S., examines the reasons CEOs leave and determines the Push‑out Score™, a measure of pressure on departing chief executives on a scale of 0 to 10.

Eddie Goldberg’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Haitham Khouri, most recently Vice Chairman at Perimeter Solutions SA.

“Enhance our ability to create shareholder value”

Perimeter did not give an explicit reason for Eddie Goldberg’s departure from the CEO post. Nicholas Howley, co-Chairman of the Board of Directors, stated: “At Perimeter Solutions, we plan for the future. We have been leaders in the fire safety business for 60 years, and we intend to remain that way. We believe that these changes will strengthen our Company, and enhance our ability to create shareholder value.”

The top three reasons cited in corporate announcements for CEO departures over the past 12 months are performance issues (26.2% of cases), implementation of a planned succession (17.4%) and the statement that the time was right for a change (9.5%), according to exechange data. Other motives given for leadership changes included the outgoing CEO’s wish to pursue other opportunities (5.5% of cases), personal reasons (3.7%) and conduct issues (2.1%). Rather rarely stated reasons are career change (2.1% of cases), health problems (1.5%), disagreement (1.2%), death (1.2%) and the desire for more time with family (0.9%). Sometimes, more than one reason was given. In 28.7% of cases, no reason was given.

Goldberg will remain as Vice Chairman at Perimeter

Perimeter stated: “Edward Goldberg will assume the position of Vice Chairman.”

“Transitioned”

Perimeter said: “On March 8, 2023, Perimeter Solutions, SA (the “Company”) announced the appointment of Haitham Khouri to serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the Company effective immediately. Mr. Khouri succeeds Edward Goldberg, who transitioned to the role of Vice Chairman of the Company effective immediately.”

Share price decline since March 2022

The announcement follows a decline in Perimeter Solutions SA’s share price of 34% since March 2022.

In the position of CEO since 2018

Eddie Goldberg became CEO of the Company in 2018.

Goldberg has served as a member of the Company’s Board and as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer since November 2021. Goldberg joined SK Invictus Intermediate S.à r.l. (d/b/a Perimeter Solutions) (“SK Invictus”) in March 2018 as Chief Executive Officer and brings more than 18 years of executive leadership to fire safety products and operations.

Before joining SK Invictus, Goldberg was Business Director for ICL Performance Additives and Solutions, where he held general management responsibility for the company’s global fire safety segment.

Goldberg is credited with building ICL’s global fire safety business, focusing on products for wildland fire management and municipal and industrial fire suppression.

Goldberg holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University.

93 words by Eddie Goldberg

In the news release announcing his departure as CEO of Perimeter Solutions SA, Eddie Goldberg received praise and thanks.

In announcing the leadership change, Eddie Goldberg said 93 words.

“A privilege and a commitment”

Eddie Goldberg stated: “Working alongside the brave men and women who respond to the challenges of firefighting is a privilege and a commitment that I am honored to keep. I have been, and will continue to be, supported by the most talented, most dedicated people in the fire safety business. Worldwide the threat of wildfires is impacting us more and more every year. The world will need what we are able to do more than ever in the upcoming years. I look forward to continue helping create the solutions that will build a better firefighting future.”

Over the past 12 months, 25% of all outgoing CEOs remained silent in the departure announcement, according to data compiled by exechange. Departing CEOs who did make a statement said an average of 109 words. The longest statement was 510 words. The shortest statement was 23 words. Leadership transitions in which departing CEOs provide conspicuously short, excessively long or no explanations for their move are statistically associated with elevated pressure and show an increased incidence of Push-out Scores above the critical threshold of 5.

37% of CEOs are forced out or fired

When CEO departures are announced, exechange determines the Push-out Score on a scale of 0 to 10 to assess how likely it is that the chief executive was pushed out or felt pressure to leave the position, with 0 being most likely a voluntary move and 10 being most likely a forced exit. Anything over a 5 indicates that there are valid reasons to believe an executive may have been pushed out.

Of the 328 CEO departures in the Russell 3000 Index evaluated over the past 12 months (March 9, 2022, to March 8, 2023), the average Push-out Score was 5.9, according to exechange data. References to conduct issues, disagreements and irregularities lead to the highest Push-out Scores. When performance issues, time with family or other opportunities were cited as departure reasons, the average Push-out Scores were also significantly elevated.

Around 37% of the CEO departure events from the past 12 months received Push-out Scores of 8 or higher.

In other words, in the past 12 months, one in three departing CEOs were forced out or fired.

Push-out Score for Eddie Goldberg’s move determined

The Push-out Score regarding Eddie Goldberg’s move is explained point by point in the exechange report.

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

Read the full story in the exechange report 11.2023 ($).