Mauricio Gutierrez, president and CEO of utility NRG, is out a few months after the return of activist investor Elliott Management.
Aaron M. Sprecher/Bloomberg
NRG Energy
said its president and CEO Mauricio Gutierrez has left the company and resigned from the board of directors.
Utility NRG (ticker: NRG) also said that pursuant to a cooperation agreement with Elliott Investment Management, four new independent directors will be joining the board.
The CEO’s exit isn’t a complete surprise. Over the summer, The Wall Street Journal reported that the hedge fund was looking to oust Gutierrez and other members of management. Gutierrez has served as NRG’s president and CEO since December 2015, and as a director since January 2016, according to NRG’s proxy statement.
Elliott returned in May to the cheers of investors to reengage with NRG after several years off. Shares surged on news of Elliott’s second campaign, and are up 49% so far in 2023, on pace for their best year since 2017, when they rocketed 132% under Elliott’s first campaign.
NRG didn’t provide a reason for Gutierrez’s departure, and declined to comment beyond the press release.
Elliott declined to comment on the CEO’s exit but pointed to the fund’s quote from the press release about Gutierrez’s departure.
“We invested in NRG because we believed that a renewed focus on best-in-class operations and returns-driven capital allocation would strengthen NRG and enable it to deliver significant upside for shareholders,” Elliott said in the release. “The changes announced today, including the addition of four new Board members with strong operational backgrounds, represent a key milestone toward this end.”
NRG’s board has initiated a search to identify a permanent CEO, but has appointed Chair Lawrence Coben to serve in the roles of president and CEO on an interim basis.
“NRG will also conduct a comprehensive review of its operations and cost structure to identify additional opportunities to become more efficient and further enhance capital return to shareholders,” the company said in the release. It also reaffirmed its financial guidance for 2023 and 2024.
NRG stock is falling 1.7% to $47.28 in early Monday trading.
Write to Emily Dattilo at [email protected]
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