Prince quits as CEO of Blackwater-turned-Xe - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Prince quits as CEO of Blackwater-turned-Xe

Erik Prince announced Monday that he is stepping down as chief executive of the security company previously called Blackwater Worldwide and will name a new president and chief operating officer.

Prince, a former Navy SEAL, founded the private Moyock, N.C., company in 1997. Blackwater changed its name to Xe last month as part of an ongoing rebranding and restructuring effort.

Prince, who will remain as the company’s chairman, intends to focus on a private equity venture unrelated to Xe, according to spokeswoman Anne Tyrell. He will not be involved in day-to-day operations at the security firm, she said.

With Prince’s departure, the chief executive position will be open, according to Tyrell.

Blackwater was a major contractor of security services for State Department personnel in Iraq before the Iraqi government barred the company from working in the country. That action by the Iraq government was spurred by an incident involving Blackwater employees working as State Department security guards during a 2007 shooting in Nisour Square in Baghdad that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

In January, five Blackwater Worldwide employees pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges stemming from the Nisour Square incident. The Justice Department charged the five men with killing 14 unarmed civilians and wounding 20 others. A sixth Blackwater security guard pleaded guilty in December to voluntary manslaughter and attempt to commit manslaughter charges for his role in the Nisour Square shooting.

In February, Blackwater announced it was changing its name as part of a restructuring over the last year. It also reorganized some business units, cut some of its workforce and added a corporate governance and ethics program and an independent committee of outside experts to supervise compliance structures.

In an internal e-mail obtained by Defense News, Prince said, “It is with pride in our many accomplishments and confidence in Xe’s future that I announce my resignation as the company’s Chief Executive Officer.

“I feel like a proud parent,” Prince said in the e-mail. “I have looked after this company since its infancy and I am now sending it off to college.”

Prince also named two new officers.

Joseph Yorio, a former vice president at the shipping company DHL, will be Xe’s new president. Yorio will replace Gary Jackson, who is retiring, according to the internal e-mail.

Danielle Esposito will be the company’s new chief operating officer/executive vice president, a new position, according to Tyrell. Esposito has held various leadership positions in the Xe group of businesses for nearly 10 years, the company said in a press release announcing Prince’s resignation.

“For my part, I will be taking on new challenges that I have not yet had the chance to tackle,” Prince said in the internal e-mail.

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