CEO of Mercedes Benz to Run a Football Team

Stephen Cannon, currently the president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA, has been named CEO of AMB Group, the parent company of the Falcons, the Atlanta United soccer team and other businesses.

Arthur Blank’s stated desire to step back from the day-to-day operations of his businesses, including the Atlanta Falcons, has led him to hire the head of Mercedes-Benz USA to assume many of the owner’s current responsibilities. Blank announced Monday that Stephen Cannon, currently the president and chief executive officer of Mercedes-Benz USA, has been named CEO of AMB Group, the parent company of the Falcons, the Atlanta United soccer team and Blank’s other businesses. Cannon will assume day-to-day leadership of Blank’s for-profit businesses on Feb. 1. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

“This is a truly special opportunity for me to move from an iconic brand that I love to a role working with an iconic leader and the diversified Blank Family of Businesses,” Cannon said in a statement. “I made an immediate connection with Arthur because we have very similar value systems and a shared vision for what the customer experience can and should be,” according to AJC.

Daimler AG will replace Cannon with Dietmar Exler. Exler, who is from Austria, is currently Mercedes-Benz USA’s vice president for sales. He also spent several years in Germany as the chief operating officer of Daimler’s financial-services division in Europe. He will also run Mercedes-Benz in Canada and Mexico. The company has 1,500 employees in the U.S. and 1,240 in Canada and Mexico, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Earlier this year, Mercedes-Benz USA moved its U.S. headquarters from Montvale, N.J., to Atlanta, Ga., a move similar to other auto makers who have concentrated operations in southern states, primarily for cost reasons.

 


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