Lexington-based Tempur Sealy International announced Tuesday that Scott L. Thompson is the company's new chairman, president and CEO, effective immediately.

Thompson formerly was chairman, president and CEO of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, the holding company for Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental before its purchase by Hertz in 2012.

In May, Tempur went through an upper-management shake-up after a corporate governance challenge by the mattress-maker's largest shareholders, led by H Partners. CEO Mark Sarvary, chairman P. Andrews McLane and the head of the board's corporate governance committee, Christopher A. Masto, all resigned. Since then, chief operating officer W. Timothy Yaggi has was interim CEO; he will continue in his original position.

"Scott is a world-class operator with a history of strategic focus and developing high-performance teams. We are confident that his expertise in these key areas will add significant value to Tempur Sealy," Frank Doyle, current chairman, who will become lead director under Thompson, said in a statement.

Usman Nabi, chairman of the CEO search committee and a senior partner at H Partners, said in the news release: "Scott is an exceptional CEO with an outstanding track record of shareholder value creation. As chairman and CEO of Dollar Thrifty, Scott created a corporate culture dedicated to consistently delivering profitable growth and achieving stretch targets. Tempur Sealy shareholders will benefit from his leadership."

"I am honored by the board's confidence in me. … I look forward to working with Tim and the entire management team to build upon Tempur Sealy's strategy and drive profitable long-term growth for the benefit of all our stakeholders," Thompson said in the news release.

Under Thompson's leadership, Dollar Thrifty achieved best-in-class operating margins and earnings growth resulting in significant returns for shareholders, according to the news release announcing his appointment.

Thompson is a member of the board for Asbury Automotive Group Inc., Houston Wire and Cable Co., and Conn's Inc. Thompson earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, and began his career with a national accounting firm, according to Tempur Sealy's news release.

http://www.kentucky.com/2015/09/08/4025321/tempur-sealy-names-new-ceo.html