LafargeHolcim CEO's Resignation on Syria Creates Power Vacuum
- Chairman Hess named interim while search for successor starts
- Company says Olsen not responsible for Syria wrongdoings
Eric Olsen.
Photographer: Michele Limina/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
LafargeHolcim Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Eric Olsen resigned after two years at the helm amid a probe into operations in war-torn Syria, leaving the world’s biggest cement company without a leader as it struggles to make a success of the merger between French and Swiss rivals.
Olsen is leaving on July 15, with Chairman Beat Hess named interim CEO during the search for a successor, the Jona, Switzerland-based company said in a statement Monday. Olsen called his departure a bid to appease “strong tensions” arising from the Syria case. The company doesn’t hold him responsible, saying his role and possible implication “has been a point of attention.”