CME CIO Jim Krause to Retain his Position Post-Merger

CME Executives Come Out on Top  

On Wednesday, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) revealed the executives who’ll still have jobs following the close of their merger. The CME’s CIO, Jim Krause, will remain in his post once the merger is complete, though he will no longer report to Phupinder Gill, currently the CME’s president and COO. Krause will instead report to Bryan Durkin, the CBOT’s EVP and COO who will become COO of CME Group and will report to Gill. Gill will retain the title of president post-merger. CBOT executives definitely appear to have gotten short end of the stick on this deal: CBOT’s CEO Bernard Dan will hold his position until about mid-2007 then he becomes a “special advisor” to the combined company for a year. (He’s probably getting paid handsomely, but what do I know?) It appears that CBOT executives Kevin J.P. O’Hara, William M. Farrow III, Christopher Malo and Glen M. Johnson will be out of their jobs once the merger is complete around the middle of 2007. I’m sure they’re crying all the way to the bank.

CME executives made out well undoubtedly because their CEO, Craig Donohue, and their chairman, Terrence Duffy, are holding on to their positions of power post-merger. CME CIO Krause can credit his employment position to the fact that 1) he has such a good relationship with Donohue and 2) IT is so critical to the options exchange’s business. Still, I’m surprised Duffy and Donohue had to cede so few senior leadership positions to CBOT executives.

Donohue and Krause have appeared in CIO several times. Donohue discussed his relationship with Krause and the extent to which his company relies on IT in a View from the Top interview that appeared in the May 15, 2006 issue of CIO. They also appeared together in a story on the differences in the way CIOs and CEOs perceive the CIO role.

For more on the considerations that go into settling on a post-merger leadership team, see this blog entry I wrote on the topic.)