Canadian Pacific Railway says Hunter Harrison stepping down immediately
CALGARY — Hunter Harrison has struck a surprise deal to step down as CEO of Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (TSX:CP) five months ahead of schedule, apparently so he can take a job with a competing railroad.
The railway said in a news release after markets closed on Wednesday that the 72-year-old would give up benefits and stock options worth up to $118 million, including forfeiting his CP Rail pension, in return for cancelling his non-compete agreement and allowing him to “pursue opportunities involving other Class 1 railroads.”
It said he would leave his post immediately and would not accept a three-year consultant’s role announced last summer when his retirement date was given as July 1, 2017.
Analyst Walter Spracklin of RBC Dominion Securities said the list of potential employers for Harrison is lengthy but likely doesn’t include Canadian National Railway (TSX:CNR), the Montreal-based company that he led until retiring in 2009, or Norfolk Southern, the U.S. railroad that fought off CP Rail’s $30-billion takeover attempt last year.