Former TD Ameritrade Exec Won't Return to Ford
Vijay Sankaran, who spent the past seven years leading technology at TD Ameritrade, won’t be rejoining his former employer after all.
About three weeks after Ford said it was rehiring Vijay Sankaran, who spent much of the past seven years leading technology at TD Ameritrade, the car company says the executive won’t be rejoining after all.
Ford said in early November that Sankaran, 47, had recently signed on to become its chief software and information officer, after it became clear that he would not have such a position at Charles Schwab — which wrapped up its $22billion acquisition of TD Ameritrade on Oct. 6.
But, Sankaran — who worked at Ford from 2001 to 2013 — recently told the carmaker that “while he was excited by the opportunity to rejoin [it] during this transformative period for the company, he … wanted to take some time off to spend with his family before entering the next phase of his career,” according to Ford President & CEO Jim Farley. “We respect his decision and wish him the best in the future.”
Jeff Lemmer will serve as Ford’s chief information officer though year-end, and the company plans “to announce a permanent senior leader to oversee technology, software and data in the near future.”
“This was a difficult decision, as I was very interested in returning to Ford to help advance the company’s transformation, but I determined after much thought that I needed to take a break to devote more time to my family and recharge before taking on a new leadership role,” said Sankaran, in a statement.
News that Sankaran would not remain at TD Ameritrade was “No great surprise as the merger closes and integration begins,” blogger Michael Kitces said in a tweet. “Much respect to them for seeing the deal through and stewarding TDA to the end.” He added, with a smiling emoji: “(I’m sure they were appropriately compensated, too.)”
Along with Sankaran, other executives leaving TD Ameritrade included Tom Nally, president of TD Ameritrade Institutional; Peter deSilva, president of retail; Stephen Boyle, interim CEO and president; Steven Quirk, executive vice president of Trading and Education; Prashant Bhatia, managing director, Enterprise Strategy & Corporate Development; Karen Ganzlin, executive vice president and chief human resources officer; and Spyro Karetsos, chief risk officer.
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