Terex has announced that Fil Filipov will retire as president of its crane division at the end of this year and his son Steve will take over on 1 January 2004.
Fil Filipov will remain a consultant to Terex and is committed to work a minimum of 26 weeks a year for three years. He has set up his own consultancy company specialising in restructuring activities. Terex said that Fil Filipov and his company would assist with the restructuring, integration and operation of Terex’s newest acquisition, the Czech truck manufacturer Tatra. As part of this assignment, Mr. Filipov will continue in his role as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Tatra.
Terex chairman and CEO Ron DeFeo said: ‘Fil has been an important part of Terex and I expect him to continue to make a meaningful contribution to the company in the future as a consultant. Fil has helped me over the past 10 years in transforming Terex from a small and financially stressed entity into a first class company. In the last year alone, he has been largely responsible for the successful integration of our acquisition of Demag Mobile Cranes into Terex. He is highly regarded in the crane industry and by everyone associated with Terex.’
Fil Filipov, aged 57, plans to move to the Lausanne area of Switzerland but is retaining his luxury penthouse apartment in a Chicago skyscraper in case he finds mountain life too slow.
Filipov was born in communist Bulgaria but escaped to Greece at the age of 17. After several months in a refugee camp he arrived in New York in January 1965, unable to speak English. He washed dishes and had other menial jobs before arriving at International Harvester in 1966. He began as a floor sweeper and rose up into management.
He then spent five years with Case before joining Terex in 1993. ‘I had 15 years with International Harvester learning what to do, five years with Case learning what NOT to do, and 10 years with Terex putting it all together,’ he says.
Taking over as president of Terex Cranes is his 35-year-old son Steve Filipov, who has been with the company since 1995, most recently as group president of Terex Cranes International.
Said DeFeo: ‘This is a natural transition, as Steve has worked in the crane business for over eight years and has strong customer and industry expertise.’
Also stepping out to a consultancy role is Leon Deutsch, so Dani Goldsmith steps up from being chief financial officer of the crane group to become president of North American crane operations. Meanwhile Demag managing director Alexander Knecht of Demag takes over from Steve Filipov as president of Terex Cranes International.
