ValuePublishing: Jeff Jacobson to become Mr. Xerox

 

By Andreas Weber

Do you remember? — “Good news! Jeff Jacobson became the new President of Technology Business for Xerox. For sure, he is one of the best in the whole market place!” — That was the good news almost 2 years ago. Our take was: “Recently, Jacobson distributed a letter to employees, partners and friends of the Technology Business in July, 2014, in which we can see how hardworking, passionate and principled his working attitude is. The way he approaches to sustained profitability for longer term is remarkable as he thinks not only achieving a big success in a specific year, but also being cost-efficient and investing in research and development to keep that success is important. Jacobson’s passion about technology business makes him quite successful as a president who has already caught the H2H approach by working for the Graphic Communications group.”

It was a tough decision right at the End of January 2016. We called it: “No Risk — No Fun!” Ursula Burns had to announce that Xerox’ expansion failed and had to split the company. Later on she said that she will quit after the spilt to become the Chairman of the new Xerox Corporation after the spilt. And now we are back to the roots: Last night Xerox made public that Jeff Jacobson to become CEO of Xerox Corporation. For sure, it is not a surprise. Because as part of a small group of high-level analysts from around the globe Jeff Jacobson was the host of a #drupa2016 VIP reception in Düsseldorf’s beautiful Harbour City. Jeff’s welcome speech was his at that time hidden introduction as the new CEO. Very impressive, very smart. So I like to share my short iPhone videos dated June 2nd, 2016. My advice: Listen and learn. Jeff is really amazing and in my opinion the best doing a great job in the future. 

 

 

 

FYI – Xerox’ Press Announcement:

Jeff Jacobson to Become CEO of Xerox Corporation Following Completion of Separation

NORWALK, Conn., June 23, 2016 — Xerox (NYSE: XRX) announced today that its board of directors appointedJeff Jacobson to be chief executive officer of Xerox Corporation following the completion of the company’s planned separation into two publicly traded companies. Jacobson currently serves as president of Xerox Technology and will continue in his current role until the separation is complete.

“Jeff is a great leader with a passion for our business and employees, deep customer relationships and a clear strategic vision to capitalize on the opportunities ahead,” said Ursula Burns. “During his four years at Xerox, Jeff has driven significant productivity and cost efficiency efforts while maintaining our commitment to innovation, quality and leading technology. With his previous public-company CEO experience and his track record and achievements at Xerox, the Board and I are confident he is the best person to lead Xerox forward.”

An industry veteran, Jacobson joined Xerox in 2012 as the president of Global Graphic Communications Operations. He became the president of the Xerox Technology business in 2014 with responsibility for worldwide strategy, sales channel operations, marketing, technical services and customer support, product development, manufacturing and distribution. Prior to Xerox, he served as the president, chief executive officer and chairman of Presstek, a supplier of digital offset printing solutions, where he drove a global expansion program.

“I am honored by the board’s decision to appoint me to lead one of the world’s most iconic companies and confident that we will build a bright future for Xerox on the foundation of disciplined management, operational excellence and customer focus that is in place today. As an independent company and with the benefit of the strategic transformation we are aggressively implementing, we will capture the many opportunities available to us to strengthen core businesses and pursue select growth opportunities,” Jacobson said.

“Jeff is clearly the right leader for Xerox’s document technology company,” said Ann Reese, Xerox’s lead independent director. “The board employed a rigorous internal and external search and undertook a thoughtful process to identify the right talent. Jeff has shown he is well-equipped to execute on the work we are doing now and to leverage future opportunities for the benefit of our shareholders, clients, partners and employees.”

On January 29, 2016, Xerox announced its plans to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies – Xerox, which will be comprised of the company’s Document Technology and Document Outsourcing businesses, and Conduent a business process services company. The company is on track to complete the separation by the end of 2016.

Xerox will be a global leader in document management and document outsourcing with superior technology, solutions and innovations. With $11 billion in 2015 revenue, the company will continue to be a trusted partner to its customers, helping them improve productivity, workflow and business performance through our deep understanding of how, why and where people work.

 

Conduent will be a business process services leader that helps businesses and governments manage transaction intensive processes at a large scale. With approximately $7 billion in 2015 revenue – 90% of which is annuity based – the company is focused on attractive growth markets including transportation, healthcare, commercial and government services.

 

 

 

 

Jeff Jacobson Biography                                                                                          

Jeffrey Jacobson is president of the Xerox Technology business. He was named to this position and appointed an executive vice president of the corporation in July 2014. Jacobson has been a corporate officer since February 2012.

In his current role, Jacobson leads the company’s technology business, which offers a diverse portfolio of hardware, software and services to customers ranging from small businesses to multinational enterprises. He is responsible for worldwide strategy, sales channel operations, marketing, technical services and customer support, and product development, manufacturing and distribution.

Jacobson joined Xerox in 2012 as the president of Global Graphic Communications Operations where he led strategy, operations and product development of the company’s production systems portfolio for the global graphic communications market. In 2014, as the chief operating officer of the Xerox Technology business, his responsibilities were expanded to include strengthening the technology product and solutions portfolio, managing the cost base and driving supply chain, manufacturing and overall efficiencies.

Prior to Xerox, Jacobson served as the president and chief executive officer of Presstek, adding the title of chairman in 2009. Previously, Jacobson was chief operating officer of Eastman Kodak Company’s $3.6 billion Graphic Communications Group. He also served for five years as CEO of Kodak Polychrome Graphics, a $1.7 billion joint venture between Sun Chemical and Eastman Kodak.

Jacobson, age 56, is a graduate of the State University of New York Buffalo and holds a master’s degree in industrial relations from the Cornell School of Industrial Relations. He also holds a juris doctor degree from Pace University School of Law and is admitted to the bar in New York and New Jersey.

 

About Xerox

Xerox is helping change the way the world works. By applying our expertise in imaging, business process, analytics, automation and user-centric insights, we engineer the flow of work to provide greater productivity, efficiency and personalization. Our employees create meaningful innovations and provide business process services, printing equipment, software and solutions that make a real difference for our clients and their customers in 180 countries. Learn more at www.xerox.com.