Former AT&T CEO To Become New GM Chairman

That will bring the board of the new company to 13 members, one more than the current board.

Kresa, a GM board member since 2003, was named interim chairman in March when the Obama administration's auto task force forced out Rick Wagoner as chairman and CEO. Henderson, GM's former president and chief operating officer, was named CEO and continues in that role.

GM has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since June 1 as it seeks to reorganize and shed unwanted assets. So far it has received about $20 billion in loans from the U.S. government.

"The appointment of Ed Whitacre as chairman represents a very auspicious beginning for the New GM," Kresa, a former chairman and CEO of Northrop Grumman Corp., said in the statement. "We look forward to working with him to complete the reinvention of GM and maximize the enormous potential of this new enterprise."

Whitacre made his name by building regional phone company Southwestern Bell into the largest telecommunications provider in the country, snapping up the AT&T brand along the way.

Telecom industry analyst Victor Schnee at Probe Financial said Whitacre's appointment to GM was "bizarre."