John Cahill (businessman)


John Cahill was a British businessman, and the former Chief Executive of British Aerospace. He sold Rover Group to BMW.

Early life

He was born in Ruislip in Middlesex. He had a sister. His Irish catholic father was one of the founders of Blue Circle Industries. He was sent to boarding school at the age of nine. He did not like his experience at boarding school. He left school at the age of 16.

Career

He worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week and did not like holidays.

British Aerospace

He became Executive Chairman of British Aerospace on 23 May 1992. He rescued BAe from the brink of bankruptcy. In September 1992 the company wrote off £1bn, to restructure the company. In January 1993 the company received a much welcome order for £3bn for the Panavia Tornado ADV. He sold the Rover Group to BMW in January 1994 for £800m. At the time of being Executive Chairman, he was living in the USA. He resigned on 26 April 1994. BAe was employing around 116,000 people at the time. He was paid £450,000. He was obsessively punctual. He was given a £3.2m pay-off, a

TWA

He became Chairman of TWA on 9 June 1995.

Personal life

He married an Italian woman in 1956 and had three daughters. He died in the USA aged 65.