Skip to main content
Jan 27, 2021

Tenneco finds successor to general counsel

Thomas Sabatino will join the NYSE-listed company next month

Thomas Sabatino will join Lake Forest, Illinois-based Tenneco as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, effective February 15.

Sabatino is at present co-chair of the Humane Society of the United States’ board and chair of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution. He also holds board positions with Teligent and the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

Sabatino’s appointment follows Brandon Smith’s appointment as executive vice president and general counsel at CHS, a Fortune 100 agribusiness co-operative. Smith will stay on with Tenneco into March to help with the transition. Before joining Tenneco in 2008, Smith was an attorney with Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago.

At CHS, Smith succeeds James Zappa who has been executive vice president and general counsel since 2015. Zappa will assume another leadership role in the company as part of his career transition plan, according to CHS.

Sabatino’s previous roles include executive vice president and general counsel for law and regulatory affairs at Aetna; senior executive vice president, chief administrative officer and general counsel at Hertz; executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary at Walgreen Co and Walgreens Boots Alliance; executive vice president, general counsel and secretary at United Continental Holdings and United Airlines; and executive vice president and general counsel for global law and public affairs at Schering-Plough Corporation.

‘I am pleased to welcome Tom to Tenneco and the addition of his extensive legal background and global management expertise to our executive leadership team,’ CEO Brian Kesseler says in a statement. ‘He brings a wealth of experience ranging from leading the corporate legal function and managing mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and divestitures to advising and serving on corporate and non-profit boards.

‘On behalf of the board and management team, I want to thank Brandon Smith for his years of service to Tenneco. We wish him success in the next chapter of his career as he has had a long-time passion for the agriculture industry.’

Ben Maiden

Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Governance Intelligence, an IR Media publication, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. Ben was previously managing editor of Compliance Reporter, covering regulatory and compliance...