Henderson joined
General Motors in 1984. He held a number of positions with the company until 1992 when he became
GMAC group vice president of finance in
Detroit. From 1997 to 2000, he was GM vice president and managing director of
GM do Brasil covering GM operations in
Brazil,
Argentina,
Paraguay, and
Uruguay. He was successful in introducing small, inexpensive cars such as the
Celta subcompact and the
Meriva microvan, both produced in Brazil. In June 2000, he was appointed group vice president and president of GM-LAAM (
Latin America,
Africa and
Middle East) and in January 2002, he moved to
Singapore as president of GM Asia Pacific where he was successful in expanding operations in
Korea and
China. In 2004, Henderson was appointed chairman of
GM Europe, based in
Zurich,
Switzerland, where he undertook substantial restructuring including significant reductions in jobs. After becoming vice chairman and chief financial officer in January 2006, in March 2009, he became GM president and chief operating officer. On December 1, 2009, Henderson resigned from General Motors as CEO and was replaced by board Chairman
Edward Whitacre, Jr., former head of
AT&T Inc., who temporarily was CEO while a global search for a new permanent replacement is conducted. January 25, 2010 Ed Whitacre announces he will become the permanent CEO while keeping his current chairman of board of directors role. On February 19, 2010, GM announced that Henderson would serve as a consultant on their international operations, to be paid $59,090 per month ($709,080 per year). On June 11, 2018,
Adient plc announced that Henderson would replace former CEO R. Bruce McDonald as interim CEO, pending a search for a full-time replacement for McDonald. ==Personal life==