Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> June 12, 2000
JON CHAIT was named Chairman and CEO of Spring Group Plc, following the
acquisition of Mr. Chait's wholly-owned company Magenta.com Ltd., a
developer of groundbreaking IT recruitment tools for the Internet. Jon
Chait established Magenta in 1999 after overseeing Manpower's successful
international expansion drive simultaneously with his role as the
company's Chief Financial Officer. Jon Chait joined Manpower Inc., the
world's leading temporary employment services company, in 1989, as
Executive Vice President and was elected a Director in 1991. He was
appointed Chief Financial Officer of the company two years later, before
being named in 1995 to the position of Managing Director of the
International Division, establishing later Manpower's European
Headquarters in Brussels. After receiving his law degree in 1975 from
the University of California (Los Angeles) where he was an editor of the
Law Review, he was engaged for 14 years in the private practice of law
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he specialised in mergers and
acquisitions, and financial restructurings. He was a partner in the
firm of Godfrey & Kahn S.C., which advised Manpower on its legal
affairs. Mr. Chait's undergraduate studies were also at the University
of California, where he was graduated magna cum laude in Political
Science in 1972 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the national
academic honour society. Mr. Chait is also a Director of Marshall &
Isley, a bank holding company, of Krueger International Inc., a
manufacturer of office furniture, and of M&I Data Services, which
provides data processing services and software to financial
institutions. Mr. Chait was born in 1950 in Bakersfield, California.
He is married and has two children. Profile
TWST: Can you start by giving me an overview of Spring Group; what youractivities are and where do you see yourselves in the market place
today?
Mr. Chait: Spring Group was founded about 10