Tipsord to Succeed Rust as State Farm CEO

June 5, 2015

Michael Tipsord, State Farm president and chief operating officer who first joined the insurer in 1988, will succeed outgoing CEO Edward B. Rust Jr. in September as chief executive officer.

Rust, in speaking during a company wide telecast, said the State Farm Mutual board of directors had unanimously agreed with his recommendation to elevate Tipsord.

Rust, who has served as CEO the past 30 years and who will turn 65 this summer, will continue as chairman of the board.

Rust said Tipsord Michael has been a key leader in the insurer’s continued growth and success who has helped him “chart State Farm’s future.”

State Farm is a leading insurer of vehicles and homes. State Farm is also involved in personal banking, mutual funds and retirement planning services. This year, the company became the largest provider of individual life insurance policies in the U.S.

Rust was named CEO in 1985 and is the company’s longest serving CEO. During this 30-year span of leadership, State Farm has grown from 45 million policies to serving more than 82 million policies and financial services accounts. The financial strength of the organization has grown from $10 billion to more than $80 billion.

He has served as chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce board of directors, the American Enterprise Institute, the Financial Services Roundtable, the National Alliance of Business and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Rust began his State Farm career in 1975 and is a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan. He also holds both juris doctor and master of business degrees from Southern Methodist University.

Tipsord joined State Farm in 1988. Following service in various positions, he was named vice president and assistant treasurer in 1998, vice president and treasurer in 2001, and senior vice president in 2002. He was named chief financial officer in 2004, chief operating officer in 2011 and was elected to the office of president in 2015.

Tipsord is a member of the board of directors of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. and its principal affiliates. He serves on the board of directors for Navigant Consulting Inc. and is an honorary trustee of the Brookings Institution. He is also a member of the dean’s advisory board for the University Of Illinois College Of Law.

A native of Illinois, Tipsord received a bachelor’s degree from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington and a law degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Topics Illinois

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