BOCA RATON, Fla. — ADT (NYSE: ADT) on Tuesday announced that CEO Tim Whall will retire Nov. 30 and Jim DeVries, currently president of ADT, will be promoted to chief executive.
DeVries will be appointed to the company’s board of directors following the transition, according to an announcement. Whall, an SSI Hall of Fame inductee, will remain on the ADT’s board and serve as an adviser to the company.
“The Company has strengthened its core operations and is successfully executing on its strategy, and both the Board and I believe that now is the right time to initiate this transition of leadership responsibilities,” Whall states in the announcement.
Whall continues, “Jim DeVries has led many of the Company’s recent operational and strategic improvements as Chief Operating Officer and President, making him well-positioned to succeed me as Chief Executive Officer. Today the fundamentals of our business are strong and I am confident that under the leadership of Jim and the current management team, ADT will continue to perform and deliver on its long-term growth plans.”
Jim DeVries will be promoted to CEO in December. (Photo courtesy ADT)
DeVries joined ADT as COO in 2016 and has served as president since September 2017. Prior to joining the company, he held senior leadership roles at leading companies in the insurance, financial services and telecommunications industries, including most recently as executive vice president for Allstate brand operations.
Before joining Allstate, he was senior vice president of human resources at the Principal Financial Group and vice president for corporate services and human resources at Ameritech’s monitoring and security services division.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead this talented team as we continue to drive operational excellence with the customer as our true north. Together, we will execute our strategies to innovate the customer experience, enhance our service capabilities, and deliver value for all stakeholders,” says DeVries. “ADT, including our dealer partners, has an exciting future ahead and I am energized by the opportunity to further establish the Company as an innovative leader. I look forward to working closely with Tim to ensure a seamless transition.”
In the announcement, Marc Becker, chairman of the ADT board of directors, thanked Whall for his many contributions to the company.
“Tim is a thirty-year pioneer in the security alarm sector, and over the past two years, has led the effective transformation of ADT operationally and allowed the Company to deliver an enhanced customer experience through faster service delivery and higher quality customer care, while reducing costs and customer attrition,” Becker says. “Through this laser focus on customer service and retention, as well as a more disciplined and robust customer acquisition strategy, Tim and the ADT team have positioned the business for continued strength and value creation.”
