OFFICE DEPOT NAMES NEIL AUSTRIAN AS NEW C.E.O.

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Date: Wednesday May 25, 2011 08:28:05 am
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    OFFICE DEPOT NAMES NEIL AUSTRIAN AS NEW C.E.O.

    BOCA RATON — Office Depot decided Monday to move two-time interim Chairman and CEO Neil Austrian into the job officially.Austrian, 71, took over leadership of the flagging office supply provider Nov. 1 and has been tapped to return the former Fortune 500 company to profitability and create company leaders for the future, Office Depot announced Monday. Since Austrian moved into the job, the stock has edged down from $4.55 to $4.02 (NYSE: ODP) at close Monday.

    He also served as chairman and chief executive officer from October 2004 until March 2005."Office Depot celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and I have committed to all of our 40,000 associates that we will work together to bring this company back to the heights we believe we deserve to be in," Austrian said in a statement Monday.

    But Austrian inherited several problems, such as the restatement of 2010 revenues from a $33 million profit to a $46 million net loss, after the Internal Revenue Service denied the company a tax benefit it claimed. And just days before former Chief Executive Officer Steve Odland resigned Oct. 26, the company agreed to pay $1 million in penalties to settle a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe that it had improper contact with certain analysts and major investors.

    Office Depot spokesman Brian Levine said Austrian brings continuity to the company at a time it is trying to return to profitability."Neil’s a great leader and has been for the company over the last seven months," Levine said. "He’s got a vast knowledge of Office Depot and the industry going over the last two decades."

    Austrian also has instilled accountability and open communications and improved the talent level of the management team, Levine said.As a company director since 1998 when Office Depot merged with Viking Office Products, and for 10 years with Viking before that, Austrian has seen the good times. Company stock was trading between $14 and $19 the last time he was interim CEO.He was also president and chief operating officer of the National Football League in the 1990s and has served as head of entertainment companies.

    As interim chief, Austrian got $200,000 a month in salary as well as stock options that translated to $2.4 million a year. His salary was not disclosed Monday. Odland was paid nearly $5.5 million in 2009 in salary, bonuses, stock options and other compensation and was given a severance package of $11.15 million.

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