DuPont Names Breen CEO, Removing Interim Tag

Breen, who joined DuPont in February, has also said the company was in talks with rivals about its agriculture business.

DuPont Co. named Ed Breen as chairman and chief executive officer, less than a month after he was named interim CEO following the resignation of Ellen Kullman under pressure from an activist shareholder.

At the meeting, Trian Chief Executive Nelson Peltz and Chief Investment Officer Ed Garden pressed Mr. Breen and DuPont's other directors to respond to what Trian considers poor performance by the company, and outlined several strategic options they believe would create more long-term value, the people said.

For more business news, please visit the Philadelphia Business Journal's website. DuPont is the fourth-biggest seed and pesticide company in the world, behind Bayer, Syngenta and Monsanto. As a chief executive, he has consistently delivered superior returns through robust growth and portfolio strategies, across a range of industries.

Breen has been named the new chair and CEO of DuPont, the Wilmington-based chemical and agricultural company announced Monday. The board has concluded he is the right leader for the company. An additional round of "surgical" cuts could take "a little bit of slop out of the system", he said last month.

DuPont's board of directors announced the move early Monday morning. Breen was Tyco's CEO from 2002 to 2012, cleaning up after previous CEO Dennis Kozlowski, who was later convicted and imprisoned for financial crimes. Over the course of his tenure, Breen oversaw a highly successful restructuring, including two break-ups of the company resulting in the spin-offs of Covidien, Tyco Connectivity, ADT Corp., and the merger of Tyco Flow Control with Pentair.

He has also held executive positions at Motorola and General Instruments.