Longtime Ingram Micro Chief Executive Lacy Quits
In an untimely management jolt, Linwood A. Lacy Jr. resigned as chief executive of Ingram Micro Inc. on Tuesday, just months before the giant computer products distributor was to sell stock to the public for the first time.
The resignation creates a gaping hole at the top of Ingram Micro, a company that Lacy had helped build into the largest computer products distributor in the world, with $8.59 billion in sales last year.
Lacy, 51, who was known by the nickname “Chip,” had served as top executive of Ingram Micro almost continuously since 1985. But that position sometimes had appeared vulnerable in recent years because he was the highest-ranking outsider in a company owned and run by the tight-knit Ingram family.
In fact, Lacy’s decision to resign stemmed from a subtle power struggle between Lacy and the family, said David Dukes, co-chairman of Ingram Micro. The disagreement centered on control of certain functions and decisions as Ingram Micro’s parent company planned a complex breakup that was to culminate in a public stock offering for the distribution subsidiary later this year.
In a written statement, Lacy said: “I have only the highest regard for Martha Ingram, the Ingram family and Ingram Industries. The issues were particular ones for me, and in no way reflect negatively on any of the participants.”
Martha Ingram had approved the split-up after her husband died last June, partly to give her sons a chance to run pieces of Ingram Industries, a sprawling, Nashville, Tenn.-based company that owns businesses ranging from book wholesaling to river barge shipping.
“Due to irreconcilable differences regarding corporate governance during Ingram Micro’s final period as a private company,” Ingram said, “the Ingram family, Ingram Industries board of directors and Lacy could not agree on certain matters that were critical to each of us.”
Dukes stressed that there “was no single, specific issue. There’s not a decision that didn’t get made, or an acquisition that we didn’t do.”
He said the company split-up has not been completed because it is awaiting a ruling from the IRS on whether the move will be tax-free. When that ruling is rendered, the stock offering will be scheduled, Dukes said.
“We do not expect any change or disruption” because of Lacy’s departure, said Dukes, who added that the company has already begun a search for a replacement.
Dukes said he had been recruited to the company by Lacy in 1989, and called his departure “a very disappointing conclusion.”
Lacy “pioneered some of the ways business has been done in the industry,” Dukes said. “To his credit, part of the legacy he leaves is a deep and talented management team.”
Lacy will continue to serve as a member of the board of directors of Ingram Industries, the company said. Martha Ingram will serve as chairwoman of Ingram Micro, and her son, John Ingram, will serve as acting chief executive.
