On June 28, Kansas City Southern (KCS) (NYSE: KSU) announced that the KCS board of directors had elected Michael R. Haverty, who is currently chairman and chief executive officer, to the position of executive chairman, and had elected current president and chief operating officer David L. Starling as president and chief executive officer, both effective August 1, 2010.
The company said Haverty will continue to concentrate on the strategic direction of the company and oversee long-term business decisions. Starling will report to Haverty and focus on execution of the company's long-range plan, with responsibility for oversight and management of all facets of the company's operations, as well as those of its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Haverty noted that the succession had been planned when Starling first came to KCS two years ago.
"Dave came to Kansas City in July 2008 as president and chief operating officer of KCS with the thought in mind that he could succeed me as CEO. After two years, we are ready. David is a great team leader, and I truly believe we have the best management team, both north and south of the border, that we have had in the 15 years I have been associated with KCS."
Prior to joining KCS, Starling served as president and director general of the Panama Canal Railway Company, which is jointly owned by KCS and Panama Holdings, LLC, of Hazelcrest, Ill, beginning in 1999.
"When Dave Starling assumed the position of president and director general of PCRC (Panama Canal Railway Company, a KCS affiliate) in June 1999, he began a reporting relationship to me as co-chairman of PCRC," said Mr. Haverty. "In July 2007, we engaged him as executive representative of KCS, in addition to his position at PCRC, so that he could work with ocean carriers calling on the Port of Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico, as well as the Port of Balboa in Panama. This gave Dave exposure to our intermodal network in Mexico."
Starling went to work for the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad in 1971 and over the next 14 years held various positions in rail operations at that railroad and the Burlington Northern after the Frisco was merged into BN. He joined Mi-Jack Products in 1984 to help create a terminal operating company (ITS) and was later named vice president. In 1988, he moved to American President Lines (APL) as managing director of stack train operations in Chicago, then Atlanta, which included responsibility for Mexico. He was made managing director for APL's Philippines operations in 1993 and managing director for Hong Kong/South China in 1994, and was promoted to vice president for Central Asia responsible for China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong in 1997.
"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to become CEO of KCS at a time that many positive things are happening with the company," Starling said. "The past two years have been challenging, but also fulfilling as we weathered a deep recession and are coming out of it even stronger. The Kansas City Southern Railway Company and Kansas City Southern de Mexico are working closer together than ever and our cross border business now accounts for a quarter of KCS' total revenue."