Kurtzyy Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 (edited) http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13520592/atlanta-falcons-owner-arthur-blank-hire-ceo-oversee-all-businesses-including-teamAtlanta Falcons owner and chairman Arthur Blank plans to hire a chief executive officer to oversee all of his for-profit businesses, including the Falcons, he said in a statement released to ESPN.com on Wednesday night.Blank, who turns 73 next month, has a list of businesses that includes the Falcons, MLS Atlanta, PGA Tour Superstore, The Arthur Blank Family Foundation, Mountain Sky Guest Ranch and AMB Group. The multibillionaire is the co-founder of Home Depot, from which he retired in 2001."I have a strong desire to spend more quality time with my family, which now includes four-going-on-five grandchildren, as well as to concentrate more of my time on our philanthropic endeavors," Blank said. "And while I will always be heavily involved in our business strategies, I now feel that the best role I can play in our businesses is one of founder, chairman and most senior cheerleader, spending less time on the day-to-day management oversight."I think it's a healthy time for somebody else to take the reins in terms of certain responsibilities within our organization. Our businesses are strong and I'm in good health, which makes this a terrific time to make this move and allow me to be able to back away a bit and start putting check marks on my bucket list."The exact timetable for Blank hiring a CEO remains unclear."We will be thoughtful and deliberate in filling this position, as finding the right person is more important than finding someone soon," Blank said. "This person needs to pass the cultural fit test, and it's also important to me that he or she is capable of retaining, motivating and developing the teams that we have in place in all of our businesses."Rich McKay is in his fourth year as the president and CEO of the Falcons and has been instrumental in the construction of the $1.4 billion Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is set to open in 2017. Where McKay will stand in the hierarchy of power following Blank's hiring of the new CEO remains unclear. Last year, McKay signed a four-year contract extension through 2019.McKay currently awaits reinstatement to the NFL's competition committee. He was suspended after the league found former director of marketing Roddy White guilty of illegally piping crowd noise into the Georgia Dome the previous two seasons."He's not reinstated yet, but he has a meeting shortly with the folks in New York," Blank told ESPN.com. "I've spoken to the commissioner and other folks about it. [McKay] has my support. And the league knows how I feel about it."The news of Blank's intention to hire an all-encompassing CEO was first reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Edited August 27, 2015 by Kurtzyy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby.Digital Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 As long as it's not FFS1970 I'm sure we'll be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyBird8711 Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13520592/atlanta-falcons-owner-arthur-blank-hire-ceo-oversee-all-businesses-including-teamAtlanta Falcons owner and chairman Arthur Blank plans to hire a chief executive officer to oversee all of his for-profit businesses, including the Falcons, he said in a statement released to ESPN.com on Wednesday night. Blank, who turns 73 next month, has a list of businesses that includes the Falcons, MLS Atlanta, PGA Tour Superstore, The Arthur Blank Family Foundation, Mountain Sky Guest Ranch and AMB Group. The multibillionaire is the co-founder of Home Depot, from which he retired in 2001. "I have a strong desire to spend more quality time with my family, which now includes four-going-on-five grandchildren, as well as to concentrate more of my time on our philanthropic endeavors," Blank said. "And while I will always be heavily involved in our business strategies, I now feel that the best role I can play in our businesses is one of founder, chairman and most senior cheerleader, spending less time on the day-to-day management oversight. "I think it's a healthy time for somebody else to take the reins in terms of certain responsibilities within our organization. Our businesses are strong and I'm in good health, which makes this a terrific time to make this move and allow me to be able to back away a bit and start putting check marks on my bucket list." The exact timetable for Blank hiring a CEO remains unclear. "We will be thoughtful and deliberate in filling this position, as finding the right person is more important than finding someone soon," Blank said. "This person needs to pass the cultural fit test, and it's also important to me that he or she is capable of retaining, motivating and developing the teams that we have in place in all of our businesses." Rich McKay is in his fourth year as the president and CEO of the Falcons and has been instrumental in the construction of the $1.4 billion Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is set to open in 2017. Where McKay will stand in the hierarchy of power following Blank's hiring of the new CEO remains unclear. Last year, McKay signed a four-year contract extension through 2019. McKay currently awaits reinstatement to the NFL's competition committee. He was suspended after the league found former director of marketing Roddy White guilty of illegally piping crowd noise into the Georgia Dome the previous two seasons. "He's not reinstated yet, but he has a meeting shortly with the folks in New York," Blank told ESPN.com. "I've spoken to the commissioner and other folks about it. [McKay] has my support. And the league knows how I feel about it." The news of Blank's intention to hire an all-encompassing CEO was first reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Thoughts????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Not good. This is the first step towards selling the team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurtzyy Posted August 27, 2015 Author Share Posted August 27, 2015 Not good. This is the first step towards selling the team.But the new stadium! Haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponge Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 AB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moist Words Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Not good. This is the first step towards selling the team.Didn't take long for this thread to go into overreaction mode did it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest facelessman07 Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Why do people feel the need to bring up FFS1970 every chance they get?Dude knows more football than most on this board Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MACK4ttACK Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 obviously wants out of atlanta, probably why he made a deal with mercedes and the saints Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponge Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Not good. This is the first step towards selling the team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moist Words Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Why do people feel the need to bring up FFS1970 every chance they get?Dude knows more football than most on this boardTo be fair any poster who says that he could run an NFL team with posters from here is going to receive the same treatment. He's not getting special treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butudontseeme™ Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Faxing my résumé now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lornoth Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 "I want to spend a little more time with my family""Well Blank's about to sell the team and we're all ****** forever. Game over." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponge Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Why do people feel the need to bring up FFS1970 every chance they get?Dude knows more football than most on this boardA punching bag that doesn't punch back is an easy target. But his braintrust is suspect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
likeriver Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 (edited) Theme music for this thread: Edited August 27, 2015 by likeriver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponge Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 To be fair any poster who says that he could run an NFL team with posters from here is going to receive the same treatment. He's not getting special treatment.Those posts are meme cannon fodder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonDaLuvMaker Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 McKay was the CEO?I thought that he was just the President?So is McKay getting demoted or potentially fired? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moist Words Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 McKay was the CEO?I thought that he was just the President?So is McKay getting demoted or potentially fired?I didn't read it that way at all myself. What lead you to those conclusions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonDaLuvMaker Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 I didn't read it that way at all myself. What lead you to those conclusions?It said that McKay was in his fourth year as team President and CEO.It also questioned McKay's potential power in the future with the hiring of a new CEO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moist Words Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 It said that McKay was in his fourth year as team President and CEO.It also questioned McKay's potential power in the future with the hiring of a new CEO.I'll somewhat give you the latter point but the article says he "is"in his fourth year as CEO & President. Who knows what will happen though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonDaLuvMaker Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 I thought McKay had been team President during the entire Smitty regime and not just the past 4 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SyCo Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 It said that McKay was in his fourth year as team President and CEO.It also questioned McKay's potential power in the future with the hiring of a new CEO.blank is hiring a ceo to over see all his interests. McCay is only over the falcons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SyCo Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 basically, blank is hiring someone to do the job he's been doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonDaLuvMaker Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 blank is hiring a ceo to over see all his interests. McCay is only over the falconsWell if that is the case, then the thread title is a bit misleading.It should say that Blank is hiring a CEO to oversee his business interests. I thought that the new CEO would overtake McKay as team CEO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerSteve Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 As a Falcon fan who is partially fossilized and already slightly pickled, I can understand where Arthur is coming from. Your priorities change as you age; you find time is far more precious to you than money or material things. He could've done this earlier, but he's been healthy, he wanted to get his new stadium and really up the value of his NFL franchise, and heck, you know he loves being Action Artie, the billionaire business man with the Midas Touch. By any standard or stretch of the imagination, the dude has had a pretty decent run, but all good things must come to an end, including life itself. Family should always rate higher than business in your life and I'm sure he is at peace with his decision and looking forward to fun with his grandchildren. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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