That's only your opinion. Are you suggesting Daddy John just tossed his boy the keys to the CEO office? Surely it couldn't have anything to do with Gerald being a cofounder and startup capital investor, and progressing through the ranks of the company and actually earning the CEO position.Quote:Gerald is the son of Amarantus founder John Commissiong. John is the only reason why Gerald is where he is.
Gerald's progression according to LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/geraldcommissiong
Web Consultant
Maxim Integrated Products, JUL 05 – JUN 06 (1 year)
Interim-CEO
Neurotrophics Inc., OCT 06 – NOV 07 (1 year 2 months)
Player
Calgary Stampeders, MAY 07 – Nov 07 (7 months)
Founder & CEO
CNS Protein Therapeutics, Inc., DEC 07 – JAN 08 (2 months)
Chief Business Officer
CNS Protein Therapeutics, Inc., JAN 08 – OCT 09 (1 year 10 months)
Co-Founder & CBO
Amarantus Therapeutics, Inc., JAN 08 – JUN 11 (3 years 6 months)
Chief Operating Officer
Amarantus BioSciences, Inc., MAY 11 – OCT 11 (6 months)
President & CEO
Amarantus BioScience Holdings, OCT 11 – Present (3 years 2 months)
According to this timeline, Gerald spent over 5 years in various positions in his father's companies before reaching his current CEO position. Doesn't quite paint the picture of Daddy John tossing his boy the CEO office keys, does it?
Gerald's profile from Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/profile/gerald-commissiong/
I believe Gerald and John Commissiong are a team uniquely qualified to lead Amarantus. Gerald has grown up in the research lab environment of his esteemed father, and brings to the company a solid understanding of not only the science behind the company's assets, but also the business and management side resulting from his Stanford education. He is surrounded with highly respected managers, board members and advisors.Quote:Mr. Commissiong has served as the Chief Operating Officer and a Director of Amarantus since April of 2011. On October 23, 2011, Mr. Commissiong was appointed to serve as the Company's Chief Executive Officer and President. Mr. Commissiong was the co-founder and original President and Chief Executive Officer of Amarantus, which was formerly known as CNS Protein Therapeutics, Inc. He played a significant role in sourcing the seed funding for the Company in 2008, assisted in developing a strategic corporate development pathway that involved the recruitment of relevant expertise, identification of appropriate development strategy, liaising with expertise to define development pathway, creation of a technological mitigation strategy and the identification of appropriate funding partners with a strategic interest in the Company's technology. Mr. Commissiong also recruited senior executives to the Board to guide the Company's growth and generated its official marketing materials, including investor brochures, corporate handouts, email newsletters and other materials necessary to raise awareness of the company. Prior to co-founding Amarantus, Mr. Commissiong played professional football for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. Mr. Commissiong holds a B.S. degree in Management Science and Engineering with a focus Financial Decisions from Stanford University.
I can understand how an unhappy investor can make the claim that Gerald is only in the CEO spot because of his father, but it's clear from his career path he didn't start there. He was instrumental in creating the company by providing his own money as startup capital as well as finding additional sources of capital. Given this personal commitment, his background in the science, and his Stanford education, I can certainly see why John would want to groom him for the CEO spot. However, by all indications it appears he spent a number of years working to reach his current CEO position. He didn't walk into the position.
