David H. Elliott announced late yesterday that he would retire, effective immediately, as chief executive officer of MBIA Inc., parent company of the nation's largest bond insurer.
Elliott, who was CEO since 1992, will be succeeded by longtime MBIA director Joseph W. Brown Jr.
Elliott, 57, will remain as chairman of the board until May, when he expects the MBIA board to appoint Brown chairman. Elliott will then become chairman of the board's executive committee.
"I am proud to have had the opportunity to guide MBIA from its inception 25 years ago," Elliott said in a statement. "However, I believe that MBIA has evolved into an organization with a different set of needs and opportunities. Therefore, upon careful and objective analysis and review, I have concluded that the company would benefit from a fresh perspective to oversee its next stage of growth."
Shortly after the announcement, Fitch IBCA Inc.'s David T. Litvack issued a statement on the change.
"Over the past 25 years, David Elliott has played a leading role in transforming bond insurance from a niche product that has been described as a gimmick into the credit enhancement vehicle of choice for over half the new-issue municipal markets," Litvack said.
"In doing so, he has grown MBIA from a small, privately-owned association into a multibillion dollar global enterprise."
Litvack said the choice of Brown as successor came as a "surprise," but one he considered "good" and noted he believed Elliott's decision was purely voluntary.
''I think this is an example of proactive succession planning," Litvack said.
Elliott began his career in 1969 at the Aetna Casualty and Surety Co., where he rose to the position of vice president of the financial guaranty department in 1983. He was appointed president of MBIA in late 1986.
