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ABB’s Joe Hogan to Step Down as CEO

May 10, 2013

Citing personal reasons for leaving the company, Hogan will continue to lead ABB until a successor is announced.

ABB announced today that CEO Joe Hogan has decided to leave the company for private reasons. A date for his departure has not yet been set, and he has agreed to continue at the helm until a successor is named.

“I have informed the board that I have decided to leave ABB,” Hogan said in a statement. “This has been a difficult decision as I leave behind a strong and talented executive committee and a cohesive board whose support I could always count on. I look forward to making a smooth transition with as little disruption as possible to the positive momentum that ABB has established.”

Hogan took over as ABB’s CEO in September 2008, gaining a considerable amount of notoriety not just as the leader of a major player in the power and automation space, but as an American leading a Swiss company. His background was with GE, which he joined in 1985. He served in several different leadership positions there, including president and CEO of GE Fanuc Automation North America, and more recently of GE Healthcare.

Hogan took over the ABB reigns at a time when the company was optimistic about its future, but facing the beginnings of a formidable economic downturn. “Joe is a great and successful CEO and has done a remarkable job of leading the company through the deepest economic crisis in living memory,” said Hubertus von Grünberg, ABB’s chairman. “ABB today is in a much better position than it was when he joined five years ago.”

At ABB’s most recent Automation & Power World, held in late March in Orlando, Fla., Hogan made reference to the company’s investments in the U.S., in particular. "We've invested aggressively for the past five years because we believe these economies worldwide will recover, and so we'll be able to compete and grow in them," he said.

During the company’s time with Hogan as CEO, ABB has invested about $20 billion to strengthen the company. Major investments have been made in acquisitions and in R&D to help secure ABB’s technological leadership in power and automation.

“Under Joe’s leadership, ABB’s competitiveness has significantly improved by investing boldly in measures to drive growth and innovation, and by carefully managing costs,” von Grünberg added.

About the Author

Aaron Hand | Editor-in-Chief, ProFood World

Aaron Hand has three decades of experience in B-to-B publishing with a particular focus on technology. He has been with PMMI Media Group since 2013, much of that time as Executive Editor for Automation World, where he focused on continuous process industries. Prior to joining ProFood World full time in late 2020, Aaron worked as Editor at Large for PMMI Media Group, reporting for all publications on a wide variety of industry developments, including advancements in packaging for consumer products and pharmaceuticals, food and beverage processing, and industrial automation. He took over as Editor-in-Chief of ProFood World in 2021. Aaron holds a B.A. in Journalism from Indiana University and an M.S. in Journalism from the University of Illinois.