Wagoner: I was asked to ‘step aside,’ so I did

Former GM CEO said Monday that the Obama administration had requested his resignation during meetings on Friday, and he agreed.

“On Friday I was in Washington for a meeting with Administration officials,” Wagoner said in a statement released by GM. “In the course of that meeting, they requested that I ‘step aside’ as CEO of GM, and so I have.”

The chief executive’s resignation has been seen as an extraordinary step by the Obama administration to affect corporate leadership at one of the many companies receiving assistance from the federal government.

Wagoner expressed confidence in interim CEO Fritz Henderson, calling him the ideal person to take GM through its restructuring efforts.

“GM is a great company with a storied history,” he concluded. “Ignore the doubters because I know it is also a company with a great future.”