Donnelley CEO Announces Retirement
CHICAGO—William L. Davis, chairman, president and CEO of RR Donnelley, has announced that he is leaving his post at Donnelley. Davis says he will remain with the company until a replacement is named.
The board of directors is currently conducting a search for a successor, which is expected to take between four to six months.
The pending retirement of Davis, 60, is somewhat surprising given that many within the industry had expected him to remain with the company until he turned 62. "When I joined RR Donnelley, my personal goal was to lead for a period of five to seven years and then retire," Davis explains. "While I will miss being part of the team, I'm eager to begin this new stage of my life."
In 1997, Davis joined RR Donnelley from Emerson Electric Co., where he had been for 20 years.
"Heading up RR Donnelley during a time of great industry change has been a tremendous experience," Davis notes.
Board member and former vice chairman James R. Donnelley commended Davis' accomplishments in making RR Donnelley a modern manufacturing operation. "Bill accomplished what the board asked him to do. Our strategy is sound and our future is bright," Donnelley asserts.
Davis oversaw a $360 million cost-cutting overhaul of the company, including a 10 percent cut in the work force in the past two years. Though the board has hired the search firm Heidrick & Struggles to find a new CEO, some observers believe John C. Campanelli, president of Donnelley's print business, may be a front-runner for the job.
Campanelli has been with RR Donnelley for more than 23 years. Before his six-year stint in the logistics unit, he spent 17 years in the magazine, catalog and retail printing operations, where he held the jobs of senior vice president of operations and senior vice president of technology.
