Former GM CEO Henderson named principal of consulting firm

Former General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson has joined a Washington, D.C., consulting firm founded by some of his former GM colleagues.

Henderson, 59, will be a principal of the Hawksbill Group, Hawksbill said in a statement Wednesday.

Henderson was a longtime finance executive who steered GM through its government-led bankruptcy in 2009. He most recently has been CEO of SunCoke Energy since the company's public offering in 2011. He retired from the Illinois-based company at the end of last year.

Hawksbill was founded two years ago by former GM executives Bob Ferguson, who led global policy and Cadillac; Jaime Ardila, former president of GM South America; and Tim Lee, who oversaw global manufacturing and served as chairman of GM China.

Ferguson, who is Hawksbill's chief executive, said Henderson is expected to bring a "unique global perspective" to the firm and its clients.

"Fritz Henderson is a highly experienced, dynamic business leader with sharp business intellect and strong leadership skills," he said in the statement.

Henderson has been on the company's board of advisers for more than a year.

"I've now been the CEO of two companies, and I'm really excited to use those experiences to assist our clients and create shareholder value," he told Automotive News. "We can provide quite a broad range of advice to our clients."

Henderson joined GM in 1984 and held a variety of finance and international assignments, including head of GM Europe and GM Asia Pacific. He became GM's CFO in 2006, then COO and president. He was appointed CEO in 2009 after Rick Wagoner was ousted by the Obama administration as part of the government's bailout.

In late 2009, when directors grew concerned about the pace of GM's turnaround, GM's board replaced Henderson with Ed Whitacre, who was succeeded .

Henderson currently serves as a board member for Adient PLC and Marriott International and is a trustee of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Hawksbill Group provides strategic counsel in public affairs, corporate communications and business operations to corporations, philanthropic and nongovernmental organizations worldwide. It includes more than a dozen advisers from industries such as international banking, telecommunications, sporting goods, legal and real estate.