E. Hunter Harrison

E. Hunter Harrison (born 1940) is a railway executive who has been serving as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) since June 29, 2012.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1940, Harrison began his railroad career in 1964 while attending University in Memphis when he worked as a carman-oiler for the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway ("Frisco").^[1] Harrison was later promoted to railroad operator with Frisco and, later, with Burlington Northern Railroad (BN) following that company's acquisition of Frisco in 1980. Harrison was consistently promoted at BN, eventually being appointed Vice-President - Transportation as well as Vice-President - Service Design.^[2]

Harrison in 1989 left the BN and secured a job with the executive team at the Illinois Central Railroad (IC), first as Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, culminating with his appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer from 1993 to 1998. Following the acquisition of IC by Canadian National Railway (CN) in 1998, Harrison was appointed Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer by CN. Upon the retirement of Paul Tellier, he was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of CN on January 1, 2003, serving in that position until his retirement on December 31, 2009.

During his time at CN, Harrison was named Railroader of the Year for 2002 by industry trade journal Railway Age as well as CEO of the Year for 2007 by the Globe and Mail's "Report on Business".^[3] On April 29, 2009, CN announced the company's plan for succession in Harrison's position by appointing Claude Mongeau as his successor effective January 1, 2010. Following his service at CN, Harrison retired to his estate in Connecticut where he raises and trains horses for show jumping. Bound by a non-competition clause with CN, Harrison maintained a low profile serving as a director for the Belt Railway of Chicago as well as Dynegy Holdings LLC.

In fall 2011, Harrison was approached by the hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management led by activist investor Bill Ackman, who was undertaking a proxy battle with the board of directors of Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). Ackman had offered at that time to appoint Harrison as President and Chief Executive Officer of CPR should his proxy battle in spring 2012 be successful, which would necessarily result in the termination of Fred Green as President and CEO. Ackman was ultimately successful in the proxy battle at the CPR's annual shareholder meeting on May 17, 2012.^[4] On June 29, 2012, Harrison was appointed President and CEO of Canadian Pacific Railway.^[5]

The Canadian National Railway Co. halted nearly $40-million in benefits to be paid to Harrison after launching a lawsuit alleging he may have breached, or intends to breach, several confidentiality agreements with the railway dating back to his retirement in 2009. In the suit, CN's board of directors said it had grounds to believe Harrison may have violated his commitments to CN as part of push by activist shareholder William Ackman and his New York-based hedge fund, Pershing Capital Management LLC, to see Harrison replace Fred Green as CEO of rival Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.^[6]

References

1. "Investor 500". Canadian National Railway Co. Retrieved November 14, 2006.
2. "E. Hunter Harrison". CBR.ca. Retrieved November 14, 2006.
3. "CN Board of Directors approves one-year contract extension for company’s president and chief executive officer" (Press release). Canadian National Railway. November 30, 2006. Retrieved December 11, 2006.
4. ‘High probability’ ex-CNR head would take CP helm", Financial Post; accessed April 27, 2014.
5. "As Harrison takes CP’s top job, Ackman's coup is complete", The Globe and Mail; accessed April 27, 2014.
6. "CN suspends Hunter Harrison's pension payments". The Globe and Mail. 2012-01-23. Retrieved 2015-02-15.