PROFILE From Canada to the world
Riccardo Trecroce's "global and local" approach to managing Magna International's cross-border legal team. By Vawn Himmelsbach
When Riccardo Trecroce went in-house for the first time, he didn't expect to become chief executive officer — a role that prepared him for his current job at one of the world's most diversified auto- motive suppliers. Trecroce, now vice president
and
general counsel for North America with Magna International Inc. in Aurora, Ont., which designs, develops, and manufactures automotive systems, learned throughout his career how to negotiate conflict and work with teams from other parts of the world. When he took on his previous job as
general counsel at Patheon Inc. in 2000, the Canadian pharmaceutical manufacturer was acquiring plants at the rate of almost one per year in Canada, the U.S., and Europe. But when the company acquired a major competitor, it took on a lot of debt; then things didn't go as planned. There were also some unexpected management changes,
leaving the company without
a CEO at a critical time, so the board of directors asked Trecroce to step in as interim CEO. Over 18 months, Trecroce
reorganization and refinancing of Patheon. But in 2008, he decided it made sense to move on when the company looked for a CEO, and for the first time in his life he found himself unemployed. He considered his options: move back into
led a
For a global company like Magna,
you need to be both global and local." RICCARDO TRECROCE, Magna International Inc.
INHOUSE DECEMBER 2011/JANUARY 2012 •
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