Terex announce leadership succession plan
Simon Meester to succeed John L. Garrison as chairman and CEO from 1 January 2024
TEREX Corporation today [17 October] announced that John L. Garrison Jr is retiring as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) and a member of the board of directors, effective 1 January 2024. He will be succeeded by Simon Meester, current president of Terex Aerial Work Platforms, as the company’s president and CEO. Mr Meester will also join the Terex board.
Throughout the remainder of 2023, Mr Garrison will work closely with Mr Meester to ensure a seamless and orderly transition of responsibilities. Joshua Gross, current Genie vice-president of global strategy and product management, will be promoted to president of Genie.
Mr Garrison will continue as a consultant for Terex from 1 January 2024 to 30 June 2024. David Sachs, currently lead independent director of the Terex board, will become non-executive chairman of the board, effective 1 January 2024.
Commenting on the changes, Mr Garrison said: ‘Leading Terex has been the highlight of my career. Without a doubt, our success and achievements have been driven by our dedicated, engaged team members who live our ‘Terex Way’ values and zero-harm safety culture each and every day.
‘Terex is in as strong a position as it has ever been in and now is the right time to begin the transition to the company’s next leader. I have had the privilege of working closely with Simon for a number of years and he has proven to be a global, strategic thinker with a natural ability to lead teams and drive results. I have great confidence that he is the right leader for Terex as the company focuses on delivering long-term value for its stakeholders.’
David Sachs said: ‘On behalf of the entire board, I want to thank John for his significant contributions, leadership, and dedicated years of service to Terex. Since his appointment as CEO, he has been instrumental in transforming our company into the Terex of today, which comprises a very strong portfolio of market-leading businesses. Under his leadership, Terex have experienced remarkable success and remain well positioned for continued growth.
‘The naming of Simon as the next CEO is the culmination of a thorough and orderly succession planning process undertaken by the Terex board, which included the evaluation of internal and external candidates, to ensure continuity of leadership. The board is confident that Simon is the right choice to lead Terex in the next phase of growth and value creation for our shareholders.’
Mr Meester said: ‘I am excited and humbled to be named the next CEO of Terex. It’s an honour and privilege to represent our dedicated and hardworking team members. We are in a great position for the future given our strong foundation, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with John to ensure a seamless transition.
‘In the months ahead, I also will continue to work closely with Josh Gross to ensure a smooth transition at Genie. Josh has been a critical member of the Genie leadership team and is the right person to successfully drive Genie’s strategic initiatives going forward.’
Mr Gross said: ‘I look forward to working alongside Simon and our leadership team as we continue to provide our customers with industry-leading products and services. This is an exciting time for our business and an incredible opportunity to build the future together with our customers.’
Simon Meester has been president of Aerial Work Platforms since May 2023. He was appointed president of Genie on 1 August 2021, and prior to that had served as chief operating officer of Genie since June 2020. He joined Terex in 2018 as vice-president of global sales and marketing administration for Genie.
Prior to joining Terex, Mr Meester was vice-president and general manager of the Industrial Control Division at Eaton Corporation. Earlier, he spent 14 years in progressively senior roles at Caterpillar Inc., before becoming president of Sandvik Mining and Construction in India. He has managed global teams and operations for more than 20 years, based in seven countries, including 11 years in the US.
Josh Gross has been Genie’s vice-president of global strategy and product management since July 2022, and prior to that was vice-president of global commercial operations since August 2020. He joined Genie in 2019 and has led areas including strategy, product management, Genie Operating System, marketing, pricing, and sales, inventory and operations planning (SIOP).
Before joining Genie, Mr Gross spent almost 11 years with Eaton, where he served in a variety of roles in increasing levels of responsibility, including plant operations manager and multi-site leader, global product line manager (P&L leader), product manager, and senior sales engineer.
