Reuters
- Billionaire fund manager Carl Icahn has named Aris Kekedjian as CEO of Icahn Enterprises, the WSJ reported.
- Kekedjian, who will assume the CEO post on Monday, previously spent three decades at GE.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Billionaire fund manager Carl Icahn has named a former General Electric executive as CEO of Icahn Enterprises, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
In an interview with the Journal, the activist investor said Aris Kekedjian will take over as CEO and chief operating officer on Monday. Kekedjian spent three decades at GE, and was the company's chief investment officer until 2019, the Journal reported.
Icahn Enterprises current CEO, Keith Cozza, and chief financial officer, SungHwan Cho, are leaving the firm, which consists of Icahn's investment fund and other companies he controls, the WSJ said.
Icahn told the newspaper the pair of top executives were leaving on excellent terms. The decision was partly precipitated because neither planned to relocate to the Miami area, where Icahn Enterprises moved last year, he said.
In 2019, Icahn told staff he was shutting down offices in New York and opening up in early 2020 in Miami. Those who stayed with the company received moving expenses. Those who didn't want to move to Florida got severance, Reuters and the New York Post reported.
Over the past year, a number of other powerful tech titans and Wall Street heavyweights have also made the move to Florida, drawn by lower taxes and other perks. Remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic also spurred some companies and powerful individuals to consider the move.
Icahn Enterprises did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about Kekedjian.