Ken Weaver will take over as chief financial officer of Bridgestone Americas Inc. effective May 15, 2011. He will succeed Koki Takahashi, who recently became chairman of the board.
Weaver is chairman, CEO and president of Firestone Diversified Products LLC (FSDP) and president of Firestone Building Products LLC (FSBP). Both are subsidiaries of Bridgestone Americas. He began his career with the company 28 years ago.
“Ken did an excellent job leading the FSDP businesses to profitability during an extremely challenging economy for both the commercial construction and air spring business segments,” says Gary Garfield, CEO and president of Bridgestone Americas.
Replacing Weaver as president of FSBP will be Tim Dunn, president of Firestone Fibers & Textiles LLC (FSFT). He has been with the Bridgestone Americas family since 1986. His successor at FSFT will be announced at a later date.
“Tim brings a broad range of expertise in sales, marketing and business operations as well as international experience to his new leadership position with FSBP," says Garfield.
In addition, the membership of the Bridgestone Americas board has been expanded "to capture the business expertise of additional key business leaders," according to the company. Effective today (April 18), the following five individuals will be elected members of the board:
1. Masato Hiruma, vice president and officer, product strategy, Bridgestone Corp.
2. Larry Magee, executive vice president, Bridgestone Americas, and president, consumer tire U.S. & Canada, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC (BATO).
3. Saul Solomon, executive vice president, Bridgestone Americas, and president, U.S. & Canada Commercial Tire Operations, BATO.
4. Yutaka Yamaguchi, vice president and officer, tire development, Bridgestone Corp.
5. Narumi “Nick” Zaitsu, vice president and senior officer, responsible for the Global Logistics Center, Bridgestone Corp.
“Each of the new board members has achieved significant business accomplishments, has shown exceptional leadership and will provide valuable insight, experience and vision to the board as our company charts a new path forward in our journey to transform BSAM into a stronger, continually higher-performing organization,” adds Garfield.
