MONEY

Former Kodak executive to lead Xerox post-split

Todd Clausen
@ToddJClausen
  • Corporate insider familiar with Rochester will lead Xerox's copier and printing business post-split
  • Jeff Jacobson held leadership roles for several years at Eastman Kodak Co.
Jeff Jacobson

Xerox Corp. will turn to an insider with connections to Rochester to lead its core copier and printing business after completing a corporate split later this year.

The Connecticut-based company announced Thursday that its board of directors has hired Jeff Jacobson to becomes Xerox's CEO post-split. Current CEO Ursula Burns announced earlier this year that she would step down as CEO but remain as chairman of the new company.

"With his previous public-company CEO experience and his track record and achievements at Xerox, the board and I are confident he is the best person to lead Xerox forward," Burns said in a prepared statement.

Jacobson joined Xerox four years ago as its president of Global Graphic Communications Operations when he had offices in both Webster, where Xerox has sizable operations, and at Xerox's headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut. Company officials have said no decision has been made on where his office will be once he becomes CEO.

He became president two years ago of Xerox technology, the core business for one of the two companies Xerox will become. The other, named Conduent, will be led by an outsider to Xerox, Ashok Vemuri. The move was announced in January with Xerox facing another quarter of declining revenues.

Conduent: Xerox names spinoff company

"As an independent company and with the benefit of the strategic transformation we are aggressively implementing, we will capture the many opportunities available to us to strengthen core businesses and pursue select growth opportunities," Jacobson said, in prepared remarks. "We will build a bright future for Xerox on the foundation of disciplined management, operational excellence and customer focus that is in place today."

Jacobson was formerly the president, CEO and chairman of digital offset printing solution supplier Presstek. He also held several executive roles at Eastman Kodak Co., having served as chief operating officer of its $3.6 billion Graphic Communications Group and CEO of its Polychrome Graphics venture with Sun Chemical.

The 56-year-old graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo and holds a master's degree from the Cornell School of Industrial Relations and a Juris Doctor degree from Pace University School of Law. He has been admitted to the bar in New York and New Jersey.

Company officials said Jacobson is already heavily involved in the strategic transformation of Xerox's technology business. The company had hoped to see savings of as much as $2.4 billion over three years through the corporate split. Some of the savings have already come in layoffs for some workers, including 48 jobs when it closes a distribution center in Webster later this summer.

TCLAUSEN@Gannett.com

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