3M Taps Aerospace Exec as New CEO
3M has named a new boss.
On Tuesday, the Maplewood-based manufacturing giant announced that it has appointed William “Bill” Brown as CEO, effective May 1. He most recently served as chairman and CEO of Melbourne, Florida-based aerospace and defense firm L3Harris Technologies, which also keeps an office in Burnsville.
Before that, Brown was chairman, president, and CEO of Harris Corp. before it merged with L3 Technologies in 2019.
Brown is set to replace Michael Roman, who’s held the title of CEO since July 2018 and chairman since May 2019. “Bill’s strong track record as a CEO for a global technology company makes him the right leader for 3M,” Roman said in a press release issued Tuesday.
Meanwhile, 3M’s board has waived the company’s mandatory retirement age of 65 for both Roman and Brown. Roman, 64, will transition to executive chairman on May 1. Brown is 61. This isn’t the first time 3M has lifted its retirement age; the company did the same for Roman’s predecessor Inge Thulin.
Fellow Minnesota-based company Target Corp. made a similar move in 2022 for the sake of current CEO and chairman Brian Cornell. Target also had a mandatory retirement age of 65, but the company removed that policy for Cornell, who’s now 66. Plenty of other big companies are also considering dropping mandatory retirement ages.
During his tenure as CEO, Roman steered the company through massive market upheavals brought on by the onset of Covid-19. He also led the company through multibillion-dollar settlements over issues related to 3M’s military-grade earplugs and its use of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.” The company has pledged to discontinue production of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, by 2025.
3M’s stock price has moved up and down throughout Roman’s time as CEO, but, overall, it’s fallen. As of July 2018, 3M’s stock price was trading at about $200 a share; as of today, the company’s stock is selling at $98.11 a share.
