Xerox Names Former IBM Executive as CFO

Xerox Corp., which has been struggling to return to profitability, named a retired IBM Corp. executive as its chief financial officer, a job that was open nearly eight months.

Lawrence Zimmerman, 59, will join the Stamford, Conn.-based company June 1. He retired from IBM in 1998 after 31 years at the world’s top computer maker. His hiring comes nearly two months after Xerox settled charges that it inflated earnings and defrauded investors. The CFO position has been vacant since Barry Romeril retired at the end of 2001.

Zimmerman joined IBM as an accountant in 1966 and went on to hold senior finance positions. From 1996 to 1998, he was the senior finance executive for the server division, which at that time was one of the company’s largest units.

Xerox shares fell 31 cents to $8.80 on the NYSE.