Stock rises on exec shakeup

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Friday, March 21, 2003 | 11:03 a.m.

PLANO, Texas -- Shares of Electronic Data Systems Corp. jumped today in the wake of the announcement that its chief executive has been replaced.

The computer services company announced after the markets closed Thursday that Richard H. Brown had resigned after more than four years as CEO and will be replaced by former Westinghouse, CBS and PepsiCo executive Michael H. Jordan.

"The EDS board of directors and Dick Brown mutually agreed it is in the best interests of the company to effect a leadership change at this time," said Roger Enrico, an EDS director and former head of PepsiCo Inc., the snack and beverage company.

In morning trading today on the New York Stock Exchange, EDS shares were up $1.54, or 9.8 percent, to $17.30. But that is well below its peak price of $63.26 a share last year.

EDS suffered a rocky 2002 that included disappointing earnings, bankruptcy filings by key customers and an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.