Ed Burkhardt
| Edward Burkhardt | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Edward Arnold Burkhardt July 23, 1938 |
| Residence | Kenilworth, Illinois, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
| Occupation | President and CEO of Rail World Inc. |
| Known for | Founder of Wisconsin Central Ltd. and Rail World |
| Salary | unknown |
| Website | www |
Edward Arnold Burkhardt is a railroad executive, the founder and current chairman of Rail World Inc.
After gaining a B.S. with honors in Industrial Administration from Yale University and studying Rail Transportation at Yale's graduate school, Burkhardt initially worked for the Wabash Railroad. He was then an executive with Chicago and North Western Transportation, first Vice President of Marketing and then Vice President of Operations.
Following passage of the Staggers Rail Act, on April 3, 1987, Soo Line Railroad announced the sale of its Lake States Transportation Division to private investors led by Burkhardt and Thomas F. Power Jr., former chief financial officer at the Milwaukee Road, creating the new Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation. The first WC train ran from Stevens Point to North Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on October 11, 1987. Burkhardt served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the company for 12 years, during which WCTC also:
There was a "fiery 1996 train wreck in Weyauwega" prominent amongst safety problems that emerged during Burkhardt's tenure. By 1997 the WC stock price had peaked and began to decline. At the same time, the foreign holdings of WCLX suffered poor returns from 1997–1999. Management issues at WC became apparent as Burkhardt favored investment for the long term whereas Power favored cutting expenses; this reportedly led to frequent clashes between the two executives and culminated in a July 7, 1999, special meeting of the WCLX board of directors in which Burkhardt was asked to resign.
After a failed proxy battle, in 2001 WCTC and the former Illinois Central Railroad were purchased by Canadian National Railway, and merged into their United States holdings. The overseas railroad holdings were put up for sale, and have slowly been sold off.
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Wikipedia