Shaw is out as Norfolk Southern CEO

A change is coming at the top for Atlanta-based Class I railroad carrier Norfolk Southern (NS).

The company announced yesterday that its Board of Directors unanimously appointed NS Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mark R. George as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately, adding that George will also join the NS Board.

George replaces Alan H. Shaw as CEO, after the Board unanimously voted to terminate Shaw “for cause, effective immediately.”

NS officials explained that this move was made, due to preliminary findings from an ongoing investigation determining that Shaw violated company policies by engaging in a consensual relationship with the company's Chief Legal Officer. And it added that Shaw's departure is unrelated to the company's performance, financial reporting and results of operations.

“The Board has full confidence in Mark and his ability to continue delivering on our commitments to shareholders and other stakeholders,” said Claude Mongeau, Chairman of the Norfolk Southern Board. “Mark has played an integral role in our recent progress and brings decades of financial experience and strong operational expertise. He embodies our corporate values and is a champion of our safety culture. In close partnership with our accomplished COO, John Orr, they will continue to improve NS' operating performance and close the margin gap with peers.”

George has served as NS EVP and Chief Financial Officer of Norfolk Southern since 2019 and oversaw the company's Finance, Investor Relations, Sourcing, and Corporate Strategy teams. Prior to joining NS, Georgr held successive roles of responsibility across multiple commercial and business segments of United Technologies Corporation and its subsidiaries, including six years in Asia as the regional CFO for the Otis Elevator Company.

Shaw had been NS CEO since May 2022. From that time until his dismissal yesterday, he had what a Wall Street Journal report called, a “rocky tenure” as the company’s top executive on various fronts, including:

• leading the company’s response after a February 2023 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which required a major cleanup operation prompted Congress to call for increased railroad safety regulations; and
• an activist investor push by Ancora Holdings in the form of a proxy bout and attempted management takeover of NS