A great company is always a work in progress—its evolution never really ends. This is especially true here at First Data. We have experienced a lot of changes over the last several months, and I know 2006 will be a year to remember.

First I’d like to say how excited I am to be back at First Data. As many of you know, I served as the company’s Chairman and CEO from 1992, when the company was spun off from American Express, until 2002. I continued as Chairman until 2003 and was on the board until 2004.

I agreed to step in as CEO in November when Charlie Fote retired, and I also became chairman on January 1st, 2006. I will serve in these positions for approximately two years to lead the company forward while assisting the board in conducting a thorough and orderly succession process. Having said that, my overarching objective is to have a CEO and management team in place that can lead First Data to new levels of success in the future. I have set no timetable for achieving that objective. I will work closely with our board of directors until they are satisfied that we have the team that will produce a smooth transition and world-class results for First Data in the future.

But until then, we have a company to run, and we have already made several changes that are moving us down the path to continued success. I would like to make it very clear that priority number one, priority number two and priority number three for me and the entire senior management team at First Data will be to create shareholder value in 2006 and beyond.

On behalf of the company, I want to thank Charlie Fote for his significant contributions to First Data over the past 30 years. Charlie played a major role in developing First Data as a market leader through impressive organic growth and successful acquisitions.

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