MPG Chief Executive Resigns

Real estate investment trust MPG announced that it has accepted the resignation of its president and chief executive officer Nelson C. Rising. Chairman of the Board, Paul M. Watson, the retired Vice Chairman of Wells Fargo Bank, will serve as interim Chief Executive Officer. “I believe the Board of Directors and I do not share a common vision for the strategic direction of the Company and a capital structure necessary to achieve it,” Rising wrote in a letter to the board. Rising’s surprise resignation comes as the financially troubled company is trying to turn itself around from a crippling debt load. The resignation is effective as of Nov. 15. MPG Office Trust, Inc. is the largest owner and operator of Class A office properties in the Los Angeles central business district. The company also owns and operates several office properties in Glendale including the Glendale North Campus, comprised of a 13-story building and two 8-story buildings located in the Glendale Central Business District, and Glendale Center, a 14-story building along the Ventura Freeway, according to its website. Rising succeeded the company’s founder, Robert Maguire III, in 2008 as the company faced a large amount of debt incurred during the boom years to finance acquisitions.