Charles Petruccelli Plans to Leave American Express

Charles Petruccelli, president, global business travel, will be retiring on December 31, 2011 after 36 years of service with the company, American Express reports. Kim Goodman will succeed him as president, global business travel, effective January 2, 2012.

Petruccelli led the global business travel division for 10 years through momentous change and turmoil for the industry that included the events of September 11th, 2001; the SARS outbreak; the shift to online and zero airline commissions; the emergence of airline and hotel alliances; wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and the global financial crisis and economic recession, American Express said.

“Without question, Charles has had a great impact on the company and, indeed, the entire travel industry during his career,” said Kenneth I. Chenault, chairman and chief executive officer, American Express in a company memo.

“For the last 10 years as president of global travel services, Charles has led his teams to set industry standards for innovation and service, using advances in technology to transform the way we meet the changing needs and preferences of our customers and clients. There isn’t a year that goes by that the travel industry isn’t hit – often disproportionately – by major crises, whether it’s natural disasters, acts of terrorism or economic turmoil. But it’s a true testament to Charles’ steady and thoughtful leadership that we’ve been able to weather whatever crisis we’re facing and maintain our leadership position,” Chenault said.

Before taking the helm of business travel globally, Petruccelli led corporate services international where he had responsibility for corporate card, business travel, consumer travel and foreign exchange services for all markets outside of the United States. In this role, he led and oversaw acquisitions including Thomas Cook in multiple EMEA markets, Havas Voyages in France and Nyman & Schultz in the Nordics. As president of global business travel, Petruccelli globalized the business travel division, redefined its business model, successfully integrated Rosenbluth International and created industry-leading joint ventures in China, Japan, Italy and Spain.
 
With Petruccelli’s departure, American Express announced the appointment of Kim Goodman as president, global business travel.  Goodman is currently President, merchant services Americas for American Express. She is based in New York and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the company's relationships with merchants that accept American Express Cards in North and South America, including acquiring new merchants and deepening relationships across the American Express merchant network.

Prior to joining American Express in 2007, she led business-to-business operations and sales at Dell, Inc. after beginning her career in consulting at Bain & Company, Inc. Goodman earned a Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Science at Stanford University, and a Masters in Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Goodman will be reporting to Bill Glenn, who was named president, global corporate payments and business travel. Glenn has led the global merchant services business for the past four years.

American Express Global Business Travel, a division of American Express Company, is a global leader in business travel and meetings management.

Visit www.americanexpress.com/businesstravel