GM Hires Former Activision, Boeing Attorney as Lawful Chief (1)

Standard Motors Co. has hired Grant Dixton to be its new chief legal and public coverage officer as of July 15, succeeding longtime legislation head Craig Glidden.

Dixton will report to GM’s main government, Mary Barra, and oversee the Detroit-based mostly company’s authorized, compliance, company governance, privacy, and public plan capabilities, the automaker said in a Tuesday statement. He was most just lately the major lawyer at Activision Blizzard Inc., which was bought final year to Microsoft Corp.

Glidden, who gained additional than $11 million in total compensation past year at GM, is relinquishing his purpose leading the company’s lawful, coverage, and cybersecurity teams to target on his placement as president and chief administrative officer at Cruise. The San Francisco-primarily based subsidiary grounded its fleet of motor vehicles and dismissed nine executives—including former authorized chief Jeffrey Bleich—following an incident final 12 months involving 1 of its robotaxis.

Dixton is a “respected chief and legal qualified who has a deep comprehending of the transportation, producing, and know-how sectors,” Barra stated in the statement. GM cited Dixton’s prior perform controlling “complex business enterprise transactions and regulatory difficulties,” as properly as his skills advising on governance, litigation, intellectual house, and labor issues.

The former US Supreme Courtroom clerk has served as general counsel and corporate secretary for the Boeing Co., a litigator at Kirkland & Ellis, and affiliate counsel in the White House throughout the George W. Bush administration.

Dixton throughout his 3 decades at Activision assisted it navigate a revolt by some personnel and get over regulatory scrutiny related to the video sport maker’s eventual $69 billion acquisition by Microsoft in Oct.

At Cruise, Glidden will oversee legal, governing administration affairs, finance, human resources, and communications, GM stated. He’ll also function intently with Marc Whitten, a previous government at Amazon.com Inc. who has joined Cruise as its new chief, according to Bloomberg Information.

Glidden, who took in excess of from GM’s former lawful main Michael Millikin in 2015, will continue to be a strategic adviser to the organization. He received a $2 million equity award throughout fiscal 2023 for having on additional obligations at Cruise, as disclosed by GM in its most new proxy assertion.

Dixton’s exit bundle at Activision, which he still left previously this yr, was estimated by the business in securities filings to be roughly $14 million.