E. Hunter Harrison

{{redirect|Hunter Harrison|the soccer player|Hunter Harrison (soccer)}}

{{Infobox person

|birth_name = Ewing Hunter Harrison

|image = File:E. Hunter Harrison.jpg

|birth_date = {{birth date|1944|11|7}}

|death_date = {{death date and age|2017|12|16|1944|11|7}}

|death_place = Wellington, Florida, U.S{{cite web|title=CSX Announces Death of CEO E. Hunter Harrison|url=https://www.csx.com/index.cfm/about-us/media/press-releases/csx-announces-death-of-ceo-e-hunter-harrison/|website=CSX|access-date=16 December 2017}}

|occupation = Railway executive

|years_active = 1964–2017

|spouse = Jeannie Harrison{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-16/hunter-harrison-lauded-railroad-turnaround-chief-dies-at-73|title=Hunter Harrison, Famed Railroad Turnaround CEO, Dies at 73|author=Tomesco, Frederic|date=17 December 2017|publisher=Bloomberg News}}

|children = 2

}}

Ewing Hunter Harrison (November 7, 1944 – December 16, 2017) was a railway executive who was the CEO of Illinois Central Railroad (IC), Canadian National Railway (CN), Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), and CSX Corporation. He is known for introducing precision scheduled railroading to the companies he ran.{{Cite web |title=Hunter Harrison |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/hunter-harrison |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |language=en}} He died on December 16, 2017, two days after taking medical leave from CSX.

Biography

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1944,{{cite news|title=CP's Hunter Harrison: 'There is a new sheriff in town'|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/careers-leadership/cps-hunter-harrison-there-is-a-new-sheriff-in-town/article6122334/?page=all|newspaper=The Globe and Mail| date=December 7, 2012 |access-date=7 December 2012}} Harrison began his railroad career in 1964 when he worked as a carman-oiler for the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway ("Frisco"), while attending Memphis State University.{{cite web|work=Canadian National Railway Co.|url=http://www.canadianbusiness.com/rankings/investor500/list.jsp?pageID=companyProfile&profile=5470&year=2006&type=profile|access-date=November 14, 2006|title=Investor 500|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522121532/http://www.canadianbusiness.com/rankings/investor500/list.jsp?pageID=companyProfile&profile=5470&year=2006&type=profile|archive-date=May 22, 2011}} 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.{{cite web|title=E. Hunter Harrison|work=CBR.ca|url=http://www.cbr.ca/PersonProfile.aspx?PersonID=6898|access-date=November 14, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061024012549/http://www.cbr.ca/personProfile.aspx?personID=6898|archive-date=October 24, 2006}}

Harrison left BN in 1989 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 CN in 1998, Harrison was appointed vice president and chief operating officer by CN. Upon the retirement of Paul Tellier, he became president and chief executive officer of CN on January 1, 2003, until his retirement on December 31, 2009.{{cite web |title=Railway mogul Hunter Harrison was adored by investors, scorned by unions |url=https://calgaryherald.com/news/world/railway-mogul-hunter-harrison-was-adored-by-investors-scorned-by-unions |website=Calgary Herald |access-date=11 February 2025 |language=en-CA}}

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".{{cite press release|publisher=Canadian National Railway|url=http://www.cn.ca/about/media/news_releases/2006/4th_quarter/en_News20061130.shtml|title=CN Board of Directors approves one-year contract extension for company's president and chief executive officer| date=November 30, 2006|access-date=December 11, 2006}} 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 time at CN, Harrison retired to his estate in Connecticut where he raised and trained horses for show jumping. Bound by a non-competition clause with CN, Harrison maintained a low profile as a director for the Belt Railway of Chicago as well as Dynegy Holdings LLC.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}

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 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.[http://business.financialpost.com/2011/12/30/activist-investor-courting-former-cn-ceo-hunter-harrison-to-lead-cp/ ‘High probability’ ex-CNR head would take CP helm"], Financial Post; accessed April 27, 2014. On June 29, 2012, Harrison was appointed president and CEO of CPR.[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/hunter-harrison-tapped-as-canadian-pacific-ceo/article4379406 "As Harrison takes CP’s top job, Ackman's coup is complete"], The Globe and Mail; accessed April 27, 2014.

CN halted nearly $40 million in benefits to be paid to Harrison after launching a lawsuit alleging he may have breached, or intended 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 Ackman's push to see Harrison replace Fred Green as CEO of Canadian Pacific.{{cite news|title=CN suspends Hunter Harrison's pension payments|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date=2012-01-23|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/cn-suspends-hunter-harrisons-pension-payments/article1359484/ |access-date=2015-02-15 }}

On January 18, 2017, Harrison resigned as CEO of CP Ltd. to join Paul Hilal in another freight rail management restructuring initiative at CSX Corp., a US-based freight rail company.{{Citation

| last1 =Benoit

| first1 =David

| last2 =Ziobro

| first2 =Paul

| last3 =McNish

| first3 =Jacquie

| date =January 19, 2017

| title =CSX Investors Cheered by Former Rail Rival's Sudden Switch

| publisher =The Wall Street Journal

| location =New York

| url =https://www.wsj.com/articles/csx-investors-cheered-by-former-rail-rivals-sudden-switch-1484842700

| access-date =January 22, 2017}}{{Citation

| last1 =Allaire

| first1 =Yvan

| last2 =Dauphin

| first2 =Francois

| date =January 24, 2017

| title =Someone just hired Hunter Harrison for $100 million — and there's an excellent reason why

| publisher =Financial Post

| location =Toronto

| url =http://business.financialpost.com/fp-comment/someone-just-hired-hunter-harrison-for-100-million-and-theres-an-excellent-reason-why

| access-date =January 24, 2017}}

On March 7, 2017, Harrison was named CEO of CSX.{{cite news |last=Stephens |first=Bill |date=March 7, 2017 |title=Hunter Harrison named CEO at CSX Transportation |url=http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2017/03/06-ehh-at-csx |website=Trains.com |location=Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA |access-date=March 7, 2017 |archive-date=March 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308140859/http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2017/03/06-ehh-at-csx |url-status=dead }}

Harrison died on December 16, 2017, due to severe complications from a recent illness,{{cite news|title=Hunter Harrison: CSX railway boss dies|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42379989|access-date=19 December 2017|publisher=BBC News|date=16 December 2017}} two days after taking medical leave from CSX.{{cite news|title=CSX CEO Hunter Harrison Has Died|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/csx-ceo-hunter-harrison-has-died-1513453754|access-date=16 December 2017|publisher=The Wall Street Journal|date=16 December 2017}} He was 73 and survived by his wife, Jeannie, and two daughters, Elizabeth (Libby) Julo and Cayce Judge.{{cite news|title=Top Show Jumping Owner And Sponsor Hunter Harrison Passes Away|url=http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/top-show-jumping-owner-and-sponsor-hunter-harrison-passes-away|access-date=19 December 2017|publisher=Chronicle of the Horse|author=Glavan, Ann|date=16 December 2017}}

E. Hunter Harrison

Biography

References

Further reading