By Colin Kellaher
Union Pacific has tapped veteran rail executive Jim Vena to succeed Lance Fritz at the helm of the freight railroad.
Union Pacific on Wednesday said Vena, who served as its chief operating officer from 2019 to 2021 after spending more than four decades at Canadian National Railway, would return to the Omaha, Neb., company as chief executive and a member of the board, effective Aug. 14.
Union Pacific in February said it was seeking a new leader after shareholder Soroban Capital Partners publicly urged the railroad's board to oust Fritz, who has been CEO since 2015.
Soroban also pushed for the hiring of Vena, a disciple of the late Hunter Harrison and a proponent of precision scheduling railroading, the strategy Harrison deployed in Canada and at CSX Corp.
Union Pacific on Wednesday said Fritz would step down as chairman, president and CEO, with Beth Whited, currently executive vice president of sustainability and strategy and chief human resources officer, moving up to president.
The company said Mike McCarthy, its lead independent director, would succeed Fritz as chairman.
Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-26-23 0821ET
