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Equifax Hacks Leadership

After a breach that affected 143 million Americans and some 400,000 U.K. consumers, Equifax is parting ways with Richard Smith and looking for a new CEO.

By Baz Hiralal

In an unsurprising announcement that may or may not take some government pressure off the company, the board of Equifax Inc. said Richard Smith (pictured) will retire as chairman and CEO today.

The credit reporting agency, already disliked by many of the financially strapped or uninitiated, was the subject of a cybersecurity breach affecting 143 million Americans and some 400,000 U.K. consumers. Wired has a decent take on how the breach occurred and why the response was … suboptimal.

Among those affected by the management shakeup, Equifax board member Mark Feidler was named nonexecutive chairman. Paulino do Rego Barros Jr., who is a seven-year veteran of the company, was appointed as interim CEO while the board looks for a permanent replacement. A new chief executive could come from inside or outside the company.

Barros, 61, most recently led the company’s Asia-Pacific business, which includes the largest acquisition in Equifax’s history - Veda, a provider of credit information and analysis in Australia and New Zealand.

Smith, who agreed to serve as an unpaid adviser to Equifax to assist in the transition and who will not receive his annual bonus, stated: At this critical juncture, I believe it is in the best interests of the company to have new leadership to move the company forward.

Feidler, a partner and co-founder of private equity firm MSouth, said: Speaking for everyone on the board, I sincerely apologize. “We have formed a special committee of the board to focus on the issues arising from the incident and to ensure that all appropriate actions are taken,” he said.

Feidler served as president and chief operating officer of BellSouth Corp. until its merger with AT&T in December 2006. From 2000 to 2003, Feidler was COO of Cingular Wireless, commencing upon the formation of Cingular when BellSouth and AT&T (formerly SBC) merged their domestic wireless operations to form Cingular.