Goodyear ousts CEO Mark Stewart as shares slide to $4.20

Goodyear's board named director Roger Wood interim CEO on Monday, replacing Mark Stewart, who stepped down as chief executive and president and resigned from the board entirely. The company said it will run a search for a permanent successor with an executive search firm. Shares fell 3.7% to $4.20 ahead of the opening bell.

Board chair Joe Hinrichs framed the switch as a speed-up, not a rescue. "Goodyear has made meaningful progress in becoming a more efficient and focused company, and the board believes this is the right moment to transition leadership to accelerate that progress and capture additional opportunity," he said in a statement.

Wood, 64, has sat on Goodyear's board since July 2023 and previously co-led Tenneco from 2018 to 2020 and ran Dana Holding as president and CEO from 2011 to 2015. He said his immediate priorities are supporting associates and customers, sharpening execution and building on existing work, and that he'll team up with the Enterprise Transformation Office to push the strategic review forward. He stays a director but steps off the Human Capital and Compensation Committee and the Governance Committee while he holds the interim job.

The pay is rich for a temp. A regulatory filing sets Wood's salary at $310,000 per month, plus a monthly restricted stock unit grant worth $1 million for five months or until a permanent CEO is hired, whichever comes first. He also gets temporary housing, car and travel allowances.

Stewart's exit qualifies as a termination "other than for Cause" under Goodyear's Executive Severance and Change in Control Plan, per the filing. The board's special committee, formed this year, is still reviewing the company's businesses and operations, weighing a reshuffled business mix and footprint, better efficiency and fresh spending on new products and capabilities. Goodyear says it won't say more unless the board decides disclosure is warranted.