2020 CFO Departures and Arrivals

CFOs this year played a critical role in navigating their companies through a global economic crisis. The increasing pressure intensified the spotlight on finance chiefs, and many CFOs left their posts over the last 12 months. Some joined new companies, others pursued new opportunities. Their places were taken, in some cases, by executives promoted to the top finance spot. The following were some of the more notable CFO departures (and arrivals) of the past 12 months.

January 2020

Luis Visoso was named finance chief of Amazon Web Services (AWS). Visoso, who has headed finance for Amazon’s worldwide consumer segment since 2018, joined the company from Cisco where he was senior vice president of business, technology, and financial operations. Before to that he spent 23 years at Procter & Gamble. Visoso takes over for Sean Boyle who has transitioned to the role of vice president at AWS.

Verily, the health and life sciences unit of Google parent company Alphabet, named Deepak Ahuja as chief financial officer. Deepak was CFO for Tesla from 2008 to 2015, then again from February 2017 until he retired in 2019. Prior to Tesla, he was at Ford Motor Company as a finance executive in various roles, including CFO for Ford Southern Africa and CFO of AutoAlliance International.

Video platform Vimeo appointed Narayan Menon as CFO. Before joining Vimeo, Menon served as chief financial officer at cloud-based presentation platform Prezi. His previous leadership roles include corporate vice president at Intuit, senior director of finance at Microsoft, and senior director at Skype.

Thomas Ondrof joined Aramark as the food- and uniform-services giant’s chief financial officer. Ondrof previously served as CFO with foodservice distributor Performance Food Group. Prior to that, Ondrof spent 24 years at Compass Group North America, where he served in a variety of financial and business development leadership roles.

February 2020

Linda Zukauckas joined Nielsen Holdings as chief financial officer on February 3. Zukauckas started working at American Express in 2011, most recently serving as the executive vice president and deputy chief financial officer. Prior to American Express, Zukauckas held various senior leadership roles at Ally Financial. She serves on the board of MTS Systems, where she is on the audit and the governance and nominating committees.

Northrop Grumman named veteran finance executive David Keffer as its new CFO, replacing Kenneth Bedingfield. Keffer has most recently been a general partner at investment firm Blue Delta Capital Partners after previously serving as CFO at CSRA and its predecessor company SRA International.

Private label packaged food company TreeHouse Foods named William Kelley Jr. as chief financial officer. Kelley previously served as interim CFO. Kelley joined TreeHouse in 2016 as corporate controller and was promoted to senior vice president, corporate and operations finance in 2018. Prior to joining TreeHouse, he was head of global audit for Kraft Heinz. Before that, he was corporate controller and chief accounting officer at Hillshire Brands.

Groupon’s interim chief financial officer, Melissa Thomas, assumed the role permanently. Thomas joined the e-commerce marketplace in 2017 as vice president of commercial finance and has served as interim CFO since August 2019. She currently also serves as the company’s chief accounting officer and treasurer.

Matthew Friend, Nike’s CFO of operating segments and vice president of investor relations, took over as company CFO. Friend joined the athletic apparel retail giant in 2009, working on corporate strategy and development before being appointed CFO of emerging markets in 2011. He has served as CFO of global categories, product and functions; CFO of global brands and functions; and CFO of the Nike brand. He succeeds CFO Andy Campion, who transitioned to the role of chief operating officer.

March 2020

Toy manufacturer MGA Entertainment (MGAE) promoted Martin Elliott to chief financial officer. Elliott joined MGAE in 2015 as vice president of financial planning and analysis. Elliott was the senior director of strategy at Mattel and the director of finance at The Walt Disney Company before joining MGAE.

Michael Crotty was named Showtime Networks’ new chief financial officer. Crotty will also have oversight of BET Networks’ finance team. Crotty returns to the entertainment company after serving as CFO of media platform The Players’ Tribune since 2016. Crotty previously served as senior vice president of affiliate revenue and business operations for Showtime Networks.

Fidelity Investments named Maggie Serravalli as chief financial officer. Serravalli was most recently executive vice president at the company’s healthcare group. Serravalli joined Fidelity in 2007 from JPMorgan Chase where she served as managing director for seven years.

Adrianne Lee was named finance chief at Overstock. Lee joined Overstock from Hertz where she was CFO of the company’s $7 billion North American Rental Car unit. Before joining Hertz, Lee led financial planning and analysis for Best Buy’s multi-billion-dollar e-commerce business. She previously held several roles in finance, strategic planning, accounting and financial reporting, investor relations, and audit at PepsiCo, Allianz Life, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

April 2020  

Delta CFO Paul Jacobson rescinded his retirement, which he announced in February. CEO Ed Bastian asked Jacobson to reconsider his decision to retire while the carrier navigates though the devastating impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on air travel. Jacobson joined the company in 1997 as a financial analyst and was named CFO in 2012.

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s longtime CFO, Felipe Dutra, stepped down. Dutra was replaced by Fernando Tennenbaum. A 15-year veteran of the company, Tennenbaum most recently served as vice president AB InBev’s South America division as well as CFO of its Brazilian subsidiary, Ambev. Tennenbaum will also join the company’s executive committee.

USA Today parent Gannett appointed Douglas Horne as chief financial officer. Horne most recently served as global controller for The We Company, which includes office-sharing startup WeWork. Before that, he spent eight years at Warner Media, most recently as senior vice president and controller. Before joining Warner, he served as deputy chief financial officer and chief accounting officer at AOL. Horne succeeds Alison “Ali” Engel, who stepped down at the end of the first quarter.

Retailer Ted Baker named Rachel Osborne as chief executive officer. Osborne joined the company as chief financial officer in November 2019 before being appointed acting chief executive officer in December 2019. She joined Ted Baker from Debenhams, where she had worked as CFO. She was previously chief financial officer at Domino’s Pizza, finance director of group enterprise at Vodafone, and finance and strategy director at John Lewis.

May 2020

Gustavo Arnal was appointed CFO at Bed Bath & Beyond. Arnal joined the retailer from Avon, where he was group chief financial officer. Before that, he was CFO of international divisions and global functions at Walgreens Boots Alliance. He has previously served in senior positions at Procter & Gamble, including CFO of India, Middle East, and Africa, CFO global fabric and home care, and CFO global personal beauty. Arnal succeeds Robyn D’Elia, who is leaving the company.

Adam Townsend is the new finance chief at Vizio. Before joining the consumer-electronics brand, Townsend served as chief financial officer at Showtime Networks. Before that, he held multiple roles at CBS, including executive vice president of corporate finance and investor relations. He also played key roles in CBS’s outdoor advertising business and CBS Radio. Townsend takes over for chief operating officer Ben Wong, who had been handling chief financial officer duties.

Medical equipment manufacturer BVI named David Murray as chief financial officer. Most recently, Murray served as CFO of Alcon AG until its $30 billion spin-off from Novartis Group AG in 2019. During his 19 years with Novartis, he also served as CFO for its vaccines and diagnostics division, as well as several other senior finance leadership roles within the Pharma division. Before Novartis, he held senior leadership roles at General Motors, Swiss Bank Corp, and British Petroleum.

Tyler Sloat was named chief financial officer at Freshworks. Before joining the customer engagement software company, Sloat was CFO at subscription payments company Zuora where he guided the start-up through its IPO. Before that, he held executive finance roles at a variety of companies including NetApp and Siebel Systems.

June 2020

Biotechnology company Moderna named David Meline as chief financial officer. Meline joined Moderna from Amgen, where he was CFO from 2014 through 2019. Before Amgen, he spent six years at 3M Company, where he most recently served as finance chief. Previously, Meline held leadership positions at General Motors, including CFO for GM North America.

Todd McElhatton took over as finance chief at cloud-based platform Zuora on June 22. McElhatton was most recently chief financial officer at SAP Cloud Business Group. Before that, he was the CFO for SAP North America. Before joining SAP, he held multiple senior finance leadership roles, including as CFO at VMware’s Hybrid Cloud Business, CFO at Oracle’s Cloud Services, and CFO at Hewlett Packard Managed Services Business.

Brian DelGhiaccio was promoted to finance chief at waste collection company Republic Services. DelGhiaccio, who was most recently executive vice president and chief transformation officer, joined Republic Services in 1998 and has since held roles of increasing responsibility across the finance organization. He also leads the information technology, cybersecurity, and data management departments. DelGhiaccio succeeds Charles Serianni, who will retire on June 1, 2021.

Former Home Depot CFO Carol Tomé became chief executive officer at UPS. Tomé, who spent 18 years as the home improvement company’s CFO, is the first outside CEO hire in UPS’ 112-year history. Tomé started her career as a commercial lender with United Bank of Denver and then was director of banking for the Johns-Manville Corporation. Before joining Home Depot, Carol was vice president and treasurer of Riverwood International Corporation.

Anthony DiSilvestro was hired as the new CFO at Mattel. From 2014 to 2019, DiSilvestro served as CFO at Campbell Soup Company. He joined Campbell’s in 1996 and has held various financial leadership roles, including senior vice president of finance, treasurer, controller, chief financial officer of the company’s North America and international divisions, and head of strategic planning and corporate development. DiSilvestro takes over for Joseph Euteneuer, who is leaving the company.

July 2020  

Monish Patolawala was hired as CFO at 3M. Patolawala most recently worked at GE Healthcare, where he has served as chief financial officer of the approximately $17 billion business since 2015. Patolawala joined GE in 1994, taking leadership roles of increasing responsibility. Patolawala succeeds Nick Gangestad, who is retired.

Murray Auchincloss, CFO of BP’s Upstream segment, became chief financial officer at oil and gas company BP on July 1. Auchincloss became CFO for BP’s Upstream segment in 2015 after two years as Upstream deputy CFO and head of business development. Auchincloss succeeds Brian Gilvary who will retire on June 30. Gilvary has had a 34-year career with BP, including over eight years as CFO.

T-Mobile promoted Peter Osvaldik to chief financial officer. Osvaldik, who was most recently senior vice president of finance and chief accounting officer, joined the company in 2016 as vice president of external reporting and technical accounting. Before T-Mobile, Osvaldik held chief accounting officer, controller, and management roles at Outerwall, Coinstar, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Hearst named Debi Chirichella as interim president of its magazine group. Chirichella has been the magazine group’s finance chief since 2011. Before joining Hearst, Chirichella spent seven years at rival Condé Nast, where she served in several executive positions, including chief operating officer at Condé Nast Digital, COO of the Fairchild Fashion Group, and CFO at Condé Nast Publications.

August 2020

Kristina Salen was appointed finance chief at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Salen served as the first CFO of online marketplace Etsy, where she grew the business from $895 million in gross sales to $3 billion in four years and led and executed the company’s IPO. Salen previously held CFO and COO roles at Moda Operandi and Translation Enterprises/United Masters, and managed global media and telecom funds with Fidelity Investments.

Domino’s Pizza promoted Stu Levy to chief financial officer. Levy, who was most recently executive vice president of supply chain services, joined the pizza chain in 2019 after serving as executive vice president and chief transformation officer at Republic Services. Before joining Republic Services, Levy spent 13 years at Bain & Company and served as a partner from 2008-2014. Levy takes over for Jeffrey Lawrence, who is retiring from Domino’s after more than 20 years at the company.

Ajay Vashee stepped down as CFO at Dropbox after more than eight years at the company. Tim Regan, who was the company’s chief accounting officer, became the company’s new CFO. Regan has worked at Dropbox for nearly four years. He has over two decades of experience in finance before Dropbox, from his role as vice president finance and controller at Pandora Media, to senior positions at Dolby Laboratories and Ernst and Young.

Roku chief financial officer Steve Louden decided to stay with the company. In December, Louden said he was stepping down once his replacement was found. He planned to return home to the Seattle area with his family after assisting in the transition. Roku said that Louden will continue to serve as its CFO while working remotely in Seattle, and they have ended the search for his successor.

Cisco finance chief Kelly Kramer announced her retirement after five years in the position. Kramer joined the computer networking equipment maker in 2012 as senior vice president of corporate finance and became senior vice president of business technology and operations finance before being named CFO in 2015. Before Cisco, Kramer was CFO of GE Healthcare’s Healthcare Systems business.

September 2020

Jamere Jackson became the new finance chief at AutoZone after stepping down as CFO at Hertz. Bill Giles, the company’s current CFO, will retire at the end of December 2020 after 14 years in the role. Before joining Hertz, Jackson served as chief financial officer at Nielsen Holdings.

Jeff Wallace is the new CFO at USAA. Wallace joins the company from Bank of America, where he was most recently chief financial officer of the consumer banking and global wealth and investment management business. Earlier in his career, he held financial leadership roles at Wachovia Securities, Deutsche Bank, and Fidelity Investments. Wallace succeeds Laura Bishop, who is retiring after more than 19 years at the company.

McAfee appointed Venkat Bhamidipati chief financial officer. Bhamidipati joined the cybersecurity company from healthcare company Providence, where he was CFO. Before that, he spent 13 years at Microsoft, where he held several executive positions, including CFO of the worldwide enterprise group, CFO of the worldwide operations and technology group, and managing director for business development and growth strategy.

Gina Goetter was named finance chief at Harley-Davidson. Most recently, she served as CFO at Tyson Foods’s prepared foods segment, where she led the reinvention of the segment’s business model to stabilize cash flow and right-size the cost structure. Before Tyson, Goetter held various global leadership positions at General Mills, where she led business model re-engineering and optimized procurement strategies and logistics. She takes over for interim CFO Darrell Thomas, who will continue as vice president and treasurer.

October 2020

John Lawler took over as CFO at Ford. Lawler has most recently been serving as CEO of Ford Autonomous Vehicles and vice president of mobility partnerships. He has spent much of his 30 years at Ford in finance leadership and general management. Lawler served as president of Ford China for nearly four years when the company achieved record in-country performance. He also served as corporate controller and CFO, global markets, and head of worldwide strategy. Lawler took over for Tim Stone, who left the company to become CFO and chief operating officer at software company ASAPP.

Hertz promoted Kenny Cheung to CFO to replace R. Eric Esper, who resigned after little more than a month in the position. Esper joined United Natural Foods as accounting officer and controller, according to a regulatory filing. Esper was promoted to CFO from chief accounting officer when Jamere Jackson resigned from Hertz in August. Cheung was most recently executive vice president of finance, chief operational finance, and restructuring officer.

Papa John’s appointed Ann Gugino chief financial officer. Gugino joins the pizza chain from Target, where she was most recently senior vice president of financial planning and analysis. Before that, she spent 18 years at medical supplies company Patterson Companies, including four years as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Gugino takes over for Steve Coke, who has been serving as interim principal financial and accounting officer.

Adrian Mitchell was named Macy’s new finance chief. Mitchell joined the retailer from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where he was a managing director and partner in the digital BCG and consumer practices. Before joining BCG, Mitchell had wide-ranging retail experiences. Mitchell took over for interim CFO Felicia Williams. Williams was named interim CFO in May after chief financial officer Paula Price announced she was leaving the retailer after less than two years in the role.

Nasdaq promoted Ann Dennison to CFO. Dennison, who is currently senior vice president, controller, and chief accounting officer, will take over as chief financial officer on March 1, 2021. Dennison has been with Nasdaq for five years and has more than 20 years of experience in financial reporting and analysis. Before joining Nasdaq, Dennison worked at Goldman Sachs as managing director, head of financial reporting. She takes over for Michael Ptasznik, who will retire on February 28.

Tapestry, the parent company of Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman, named CFO Joanne Crevoiserat as chief executive officer. Crevoiserat, who became CFO in August 2019, took over as interim CEO in July. She joined the company from Abercrombie & Fitch, where she was hired as chief financial officer.

November 2020

Stanley Sutula is the new finance chief at Colgate-Palmolive. Sutula has served as executive vice president and chief financial officer at Pitney Bowes since February 2017 and previously spent 28 years at IBM. His tenure at IBM included financial management roles of increasing responsibility, culminating in service as IBM’s vice president and controller. Sutula takes over for Henning Jakobsen, who will assume the role of senior vice president until his retirement on December 31.

International Automotive Components (IAC) finance chief David Prystash will become its next CEO and a member of the company’s board of directors, effective January 1, 2021. Before joining IAC in November 2018, Prystash held leadership positions at General Motors, including vice president and CFO of global product development, purchasing, and supply chain. Kevin Graham, who is vice president of finance, will become CFO.

WarnerMedia CFO Pascal Desroches has been named the new finance chief at AT&T, effective April 1. Before serving as CFO at WarnerMedia, Desroches was chief financial officer at Turner and global controller at Time Warner. Desroches takes over for John Stephens, who will retire in March after 28 years with the company and nine years as CFO.

Lululemon promoted Meghan Frank to chief financial officer. Frank joined Lululemon in 2016 as senior vice president of financial planning and analysis and, since April, has served as interim co-CFO, along with Alex Grieve, vice president, controller for the company. She previously held senior roles at Ross Stores and J.Crew, where she served for nearly a decade.

Sysco named Aaron Alt as the foodservice distribution company’s new CFO, effective December 7. Alt most recently served as chief financial officer at retailer Sally Beauty Holdings and president of Sally Beauty Supply. Alt’s experience also includes executive leadership roles in finance, operations, and grocery transformation at Target. Alt replaces Joel Grade, who will assume the newly created role of executive vice president of business development.

December 2020

Cisco named R. Scott Herren finance chief. Since November 2014, Herren served as CFO and senior vice president at design and engineering software company Autodesk. At Autodesk, he helped the company transform its business model from perpetual licenses to SaaS and recurring subscriptions. Herren succeeds Kelly Kramer, who is retiring after nine years at the company.

Amy Weaver was named president and CFO at Salesforce. Weaver, a current president and chief legal officer at the company, will take over for finance chief Mark Hawkin on February 1. Hawkin, who is retiring on January 31, will transition to an advisory role as CFO emeritus through October 2021. Before joining Salesforce, Weaver was executive vice president and general counsel at Univar.

Capital One promoted Andrew Young to finance chief, effective March 1. Young has served as senior vice president and business line CFO at the company since April 2018. He has also served as the chief financial officer of Capital One, N.A., the largest of the company’s two national bank subsidiaries, since July 2018. He takes over for R. Scott Blackley, who is leaving the company to become CFO at insurance startup Oscar Health Insurance.

Procter & Gamble promoted Andre Schulten to finance chief, effective March 1. Schulten, who joined the company in 1996, is currently senior vice president of baby care in North America. Earlier in his career, Schulten held other roles, including senior vice president of finance and accounting in West Europe and for P&G’s global family care, baby care, and feminine care businesses. He succeeds long-time CFO Jon Moeller, who will retain his role as vice chairman and chief operating officer.

Coty promoted Laurent Mercier to chief financial officer, effective February 15. Mercier, who is currently the beauty company’s deputy CFO, joined Coty as CFO of its luxury division in 2017. He previously spent 20 years at global food and beverage giant Danone, where he held several leadership roles. He succeeds Pierre-André Terisse, with whom he has worked closely at both Coty and during their previous roles at Danone.

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