Ex-CEO Whitacre Urges U.S. to Sell GM Stake

The U.S. Dept. of the Treasury should "sell every last share it owns of in General Motors as quickly as possible," says former CEO Ed Whitacre.

In an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal, Whitacre calls the $50 billion government bailout of GM a "resounding success." But after more than three years, he says, "It's time for the Treasury to step out of the way."

Whitacre shares the distaste of the company's current executives for the "Government Motors" moniker, which he considers a code for "failure." Whitacre also cites the time and distraction of complying with the restrictions imposed by taxpayer ownership.

The White House's auto task force named him chairman when GM emerged from bankruptcy in July 2009, and Whitacre added the CEO title in December. He stepped down in September 2010.

The Treasury Dept., which owns 26.5% of GM, has said it is eager to sell but not at today's low stock prices. The company's shares, which went public at $33, closed at $24.42 on Thursday. The government needs to sell its shares for more than $52 to break even.

Whitacre says he urged the Treasury Dept. to divest all 912 million GM shares, a 61% stake, via the company's initial public offering in November 2010. But investment bankers and other parties to the IPO contended it was too risky to conduct such a huge stock offering, he adds.