The Pulte family was surprised to hear that the once-owned family company was moving to Atlanta, Detroit News columnist Dan Howes reports.
Howes writes:
To hear Bill Pulte Jr. tell it, no one whose name is on the place knew in advance that the homebuilder founded by his grandfather in 1950 secretly planned to move its corporate headquarters to Atlanta from Bloomfield Hills.
Not Bill Pulte Sr., the patriarch and large shareholder who severed his ties to Pulte Group Inc. and its board and left the company three years ago in the able hands of CEO Richard Dugas. Not the Pulte family, not Gov. Rick Snyder, not the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
“Pulte Homes made a decision without our control,” Pulte Jr. said in an interview. “I’m disappointed. When I went up to” the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference “last weekend I was not expecting any of this. Our family remains very positive on Michigan.
Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert was none too happy when he first heard the news. He tweeted this:
“If rumor true @Pultehomes is moving HQ to Atlanta then punk CEO & invertebrate board even worse than its P&L last 5 years &that’s hard to do.”
