Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Alumni
  • Login
  • Volunteer
  • Clubs
  • Reunions
  • Magazine
  • Class Notes
  • Help
  • Give Now
  • Stories
  • Alumni Directory
  • Lifelong Learning
  • Careers
  • Programs & Events
  • Giving
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Alumni→
  • Stories→

Stories

Stories

01 Jun 2009

Can’t Forget the Motor City

Re: Rick Wagoner (MBA 1977); Fritz Henderson (MBA 1984); Diana Farrell (MBA 1991); Ron Bloom (MBA 1985); Wilbur Ross (MBA 1961)
Topics: Competency and Skills-Experience and ExpertiseCompetency and Skills-Experience and ExpertiseMarkets-Industry StructuresEngineering-Machinery and Machining
ShareBar

In a flurry of activity in Detroit in March, the acronym “HBS” was almost as much in evidence as “GM.” It wasn’t just the departure of GM chief Rick Wagoner (MBA ’77) and the accession of his replacement, Fritz Henderson (MBA ’84). Also on the scene were Diana Farrell (MBA ’91) and Ron Bloom (MBA ’85), key players on the presidential task force that’s deciding what to do about the U.S. auto industry.

As a longtime special assistant to the president of the United Steelworkers union, Bloom previously used skills he honed at Lazard Frères to help restructure the U.S. steel industry. Among his many admirers is distressed-assets financier Wilbur Ross (MBA ’61), who got to know Bloom from across the bargaining table when Ross was trying to buy up steel companies that Bloom represented. Observed Ross, “He’s very, very pragmatic, not overly ideological, and a very, very good negotiator” (Wall Street Journal, February 17, 2009).

ShareBar

Featured Alumni

Ron Bloom
MBA 1985
Login to send a message
Diana Farrell
MBA 1991
Login to send a message
Fritz Henderson
MBA 1984
Login to send a message
Wilbur Ross
MBA 1961
Login to send a message
Rick Wagoner
MBA 1977
Login to send a message

Post a Comment

Featured Alumni

Ron Bloom
MBA 1985
Login to send a message
Diana Farrell
MBA 1991
Login to send a message
Fritz Henderson
MBA 1984
Login to send a message
Wilbur Ross
MBA 1961
Login to send a message
Rick Wagoner
MBA 1977
Login to send a message

Related Stories

    • 13 May 2025
    • Skydeck

    If I Knew Then

    Re: Bonnie Cohen (MBA 1967); Vittorio Colao (MBA 1990); Debby Farrington (MBA 1976); Jeremy Grantham (MBA 1966); John Rice (MBA 1992)
    • 01 Dec 2023
    • HBS Alumni Bulletin

    The Exchange: Help Wanted

    Re: Joseph B. Fuller (Professor of Management Practice); Raffaella Sadun (Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration Senior Associate Dean for HBS Publishing)
    • 01 Dec 2023
    • HBS Alumni Bulletin

    The Imposter Among Us

    Re: Edgar Wallner (PMD 22); Dick Egan (PMD 22); Mika Nishimura (MBA 1989); Clifford Maxwell (MBA 2021); Sumit Ganguli (OPM 52); Ellie Luce (PMD 30); Mike Voevodsky (MBA 1992); Sam Burman (MBA 1993); Francis Nedvidek (TGMP 4); Wendy Perben (MBA 2002); Hugh Taylor (MBA 1992); Greg Brown (MBA 1992); John Dixon (MBA 1982)
    • 03 Feb 2023
    • HBS News

    Immersive Field Courses Take the Classroom on the Road

    Re: Hakeem I. Belo-Osagie (Senior Lecturer of Business Administration); Jeffrey F. Rayport (Senior Lecturer of Business Administration); Willy C. Shih (Robert and Jane Cizik Baker Foundation Professor of Management Practice in Business Administration); Michael W. Toffel (Senator John Heinz Professor of Environmental Management)

More Related Stories

 
 
 
ǁ
Campus Map
External Relations
Harvard Business School
Teele Hall
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
Phone: 1.617.495.6890
Email: alumni+hbs.edu
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
  • Terms of Use
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.