Paolo Ferrari to succeed Gordon Knapp as Bridgestone Americas CEO

TOYKO — Bridgestone Corp. is promoting Paolo Ferrari, CEO of Bridgestone Europe since 2016 — and Pirelli Tire North America's top executive from 2011 to 2014 — to president, CEO and chief operating officer of Bridgestone Americas Inc., succeeding the retiring Gordon Knapp.

The move is effective Jan. 15.

Bridgestone CEO Masaaki Tsuya called Mr. Ferrari a "true global executive," and said he brings with him "extensive knowledge of the Americas markets and many different industries and is the right leader to build on the foundations Gordon has created to guide Bridgestone Americas into the next decade."

Mr. Ferrari also is executive vice president, executive officer and global digital strategic officer of Bridgestone Corp., as well as a member of the board, CEO and president of Bridgestone Europe N.V./S.A. and chairman of the Bridgestone Americas Board.

Mr. Ferrari joined Bridgestone in January 2016 as CEO of Bridgestone EMEA and was given the additional title of chairman of Bridgestone Americas in September 2017.

Mr. Knapp, vice chair and executive officer of Bridgestone Corp. and president, CEO and COO of Bridgestone Americas, will transition out of his executive roles on Jan. 15, but will continue to serve as a strategic adviser until March 31, when he will retire.

Mr. Knapp has been president and CEO of Bridgestone Americas since September 2016, succeeding the retiring Gary Garfield at that time.

Mr. Tsuya, currently chairman, CEO and representative executive officer of Bridgestone Corp., will become chairman of the Bridgestone Americas board of directors.

"On behalf of Bridgestone Global and more than 143,000 teammates worldwide," Mr. Tsuya said, "I want to express my sincere thanks to Gordon for his leadership and contributions to Bridgestone Corporation and Bridgestone Americas.

"He has been a key member of the global executive committee of Bridgestone Corp,, and Bridgestone Americas has undergone significant change and growth while delivering value to our shareholders over the past four years under his leadership. I know he will be missed."

Mr. Knapp, who spent much of his previous career in consumer products operations, joined Bridgestone Americas in 2013 as president, Integrated Consumer Tire, U.S. & Canada. He became vice president and officer of Bridgestone Corp. and COO of Bridgestone Americas in 2014.

Prior to joining Bridgestone, Mr. Knapp worked for Kimberly-Clark Corp., Pfizer Inc. and Warner-Lambert Inc.

Mr. Ferrari, meanwhile, began his executive career at Zegna in New York in 1994, working in sales, marketing and retail. He subsequently gained experience in general management, technology and finance at Credit Suisse First Boston in London and Telecom Italia (TIM) Group in Italy, Germany and France, where he also managed assets in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

He joined the automotive space in 2012, when he was hired by Pirelli to be chairman and CEO of Pirelli North America and later CEO of Pirelli Latin America. He has lived and worked in three continents over the last 25 years, and is fluent in Italian, English and French.

Bridgestone also announced a number of other moves. Among them:

• Laurent Dartoux will become president and CEO of Bridgestone EMIA, effective Jan. 15, succeeding Mr. Ferrari. Mr. Dartoux also has been promoted to vice president and senior officer of Bridgestone Corp., effective Jan. 1. He currently is vice president and an officer of Bridgestone Corp., a member of the board and chief strategy and marketing officer and COO of Bridgestone Europe/Middle East/India/Asia (EMIA)

Mr. Dartoux began his career in brand management and marketing with Proctor & Gamble France and also worked in leadership positions at Eastman Kodak Co. and Hertz Corp. before joining Bridgestone EMEA as senior vice president of sales and marketing in 2014. He was named chief strategy and marketing officer of Bridgestone EMEA in 2017.

• Emilio Tiberio, has been named COO of Bridgestone EMIA, succeeding Mr. Dartoux, effective Jan. 15. He currently is vice president and an officer of Bridgestone Corp., and chief technology officer of Bridgestone EMIA.

Mr. Tiberio, who has been with Bridgestone since 1999, previously was director of consumer tire development at Bridgestone EMEA's Research & Development Centre. He became vice president of research and development for Bridgestone in EMEA, then earlier this year was appointed chief technology officer for Bridgestone EMEA.

Bridgestone also is promoting Shuichi Ishibashi, a 41-year company veteran, to CEO, succeeding Mr. Tsuya who has held that position since 2012.