Auto Czar Says Inept Management Led To Wagoner's Outser At GM

Without any experience in automaking or government, Steven Rattner left his Wall Street perch to wade into the largest restructuring in American history. The scale and speed of the rescue raised many questions, inspiring Rattner to write this account of a defining moment in capitalism.

Rattner, who led the group that did the hands-on work, believes passionately that the decision to intervene represented not "creeping socialism," as some feared, but a critical part of the effort to prevent economic collapse. In an excerpt from this Fortune exclusive, Rattner gives a behind-the- scenes look at the ouster of GM's Rick Wagoner:

Everyone knew Detroit's reputation for insular, slow-moving cultures. Even by that low standard, I was shocked by the stunningly poor management that we found, particularly at GM, where we encountered, among other things, perhaps the weakest finance operation any of us had ever seen in a major company.

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DinamoR - 10/21/2009 1:57:59 PM

+2 Boost

oh no! poor little jim wagoner! he was doing such a swell job! shame on you autoczar!

Joe_Limon - 10/21/2009 3:06:00 PM

+3 Boost

It's funny, this article doesn't seem to cite any specific things that Rick was doing wrong aside from his attitude. I was hoping for a more in depth article of what went wrong and not just one mans impression of peoples personalities.

thstone - 10/21/2009 4:31:38 PM

0 Boost

Rattner is full of BS. All he's doing is trying to make himself look better. He didn't do jack to "solve" the problem. He went in and handed over $80M to the car companies, protected the UAW, and screwed the investors and the taxpayers.

As soon as the $80M is gone (18 months at the current burn rate of GM), we'll be right back where we started.

wins555 - 10/22/2009 12:05:07 AM

+1 Boost

It was quite clear that Wagoner wants to go on as usual (burning through cash in the tens on billions a year) without a clear cut plan on how to be profitable. And he clearly doesn't want to drastically change things around for GM, which GM obviously needs. Henderson on the other hand expresses the need and willingness to do what is right to put GM on the right track to profitability and survival road again.

EL34 - 10/21/2009 10:50:05 PM

+1 Boost

F Obama and the UAW.

Merry Christmas.