As we begin a new year, it is important that finance professionals look back and review the trends of the previous 12 months. One trend that has received attention in the past year is the movement of finance executives leaving their current positions to join new companies or pursue new opportunities.
A recent study conducted by Datarails, a financial planning, and analysis company, reveals the pay of CFOs across 12 sectors but finds that the CFO has the worst job security of the major C-Suite Positions. The analysis points to a raft of pain points that are seeing hundreds of CFOs either leave, fired, or retiring early. On the bright side, some of these departures have resulted in promotions for other executives to the chief financial officer (CFO) role. Here are some of the most notable CFO moves that occurred in the last 12 months.
Stephen Scherr | Hertz
Stephen Scherr, the former finance chief of Goldman Sachs, became the CEO of Hertz in February 2022 after spending almost 30 years at Goldman Sachs. During his time at Goldman Sachs, Scherr helped expand the company's consumer banking division through the creation of the Marcus division and the launch of the AppleCard.
Lorraine Burgess | BBC Studios
In February, BBC Studios promoted Lorraine Burgess to the position of finance chief. Burgess had previously joined the company in July 2021 as interim CFO. Prior to her time at BBC Studios, she had worked at Green Door Pictures, a film, TV, and digital production company.
Chris Suh | Electronic Arts
Video game maker Electronic Arts named former Microsoft executive Chris Suh as its new chief financial officer in March. Suh had previously served as the corporate vice president and CFO of Microsoft's Cloud + AI group since 2018.
Sinead Gorman | Shell
Sinead Gorman started her career as a civil engineer before beginning a finance career and joining Shell in 1999. This past April, Gorman was promoted to chief financial officer. She had been executive vice president of finance in the oil and gas company’s global Upstream business.
Nelson Urdaneta | Kimberly-Clark
In April, Nelson Urdaneta became the CFO of Kimberly-Clark. Prior to this position, Urdaneta spent nearly 17 years at Mondelēz International, where he held the role of senior vice president and treasurer.
Travis Leonard | Hostess Brands
Snack company Hostess Brands appointed Travis Leonard as finance chief in May. Prior to this role, Leonard served as the CFO of the medical segment at Cardinal Health, where he led a global finance organization supporting its $16.7 billion medical products, distribution, and services business.
Jennifer Biry | McAfee
McAfee named Jennifer Biry as finance chief in June. Biry joined the security software company from WarnerMedia, where she had been serving as CFO since December 2020. Biry replaced Venkat Bhamidipati in this role.
Dermot McDonogh | BNY Mellon
BNY Mellon announced in July that Dermot McDonogh would be its new chief financial officer starting February 1, 2023. McDonogh joins the bank from Goldman Sachs, where he was most recently chief operating officer for EMEA and CEO of Goldman Sachs International Bank.
Ian Borden | McDonald’s
In September, Ian Borden was promoted to the role of Chief Financial Officer at McDonald's. Borden had previously been serving as the President of International at the company and joined McDonald's in 1994. Borden succeeded Kevin Ozan.
Laura Crossen | Bed Bath & Beyond
Bed Bath & Beyond's finance department had a roller coaster of a year. Following the death of CFO Gustavo Arnal, Bed Bath & Beyond named Laura Crossen as interim CFO in September. Crossen has worked at the retailer for more than 20 years, most recently as chief accounting officer.
Mike Maguire | Truist
In September, Mike Maguire was promoted to the role of Chief Financial Officer at Truist. Maguire was most recently chief consumer finance and payments officer of the financial services company formed from the merger of SunTrust Bank and BB&T in 2019.
John R. Tyson | Tyson Foods
In October, Tyson Foods promoted John R. Tyson to the position of Chief Financial Officer. He is the son of the company's chairman, John H. Tyson, and had been with the company since 2019, serving as Executive Vice President of Strategy and Chief Sustainability Officer. On Nov. 6, he was arrested in Arkansas after becoming intoxicated and waking in a home belonging to a woman he did not know.
Kim Jones | Spanx
Womenswear brand Spanx promoted its president and CFO, Kim Jones, to chief executive officer in October. Jones has been with the company for 15 years and was appointed CFO in 2016. To fill Jones' former role, Martin Elliott was named as the new CFO. He joined Spanx in April from MGA Entertainment, where he had been serving as CFO.
Susan Li | Meta
In November, Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) promoted Susan Li to the role of Chief Financial Officer. Li had previously been serving as Vice President of Finance at the social media company. She took over the CFO position from David Wehner, who was appointed as Meta's first Chief Strategy Officer.
Deborah Thomas | Hasbro
Deborah Thomas, the Chief Financial Officer at Hasbro, announced in November her retirement after 24 years with the company. Prior to becoming CFO in 2009, Thomas held the positions of Corporate Comptroller and Head of Corporate Finance at Hasbro.
Jim Caltabiano | Del Monte
Food production and distribution company Del Monte hired Jim Caltabiano as its new CFO in December. Caltabiano had previously served as CFO at Ajinomoto Foods North America, a frozen food supplier based in Tokyo.
Roland A. Caputo | The New York Times
Media conglomerate The New York Times announced the imminent departure of its CFO, Roland A. Caputo, in December. The executive vice president and CFO plans on retiring in 2023.
If one recent analysis holds true, this movement may grow sparser this year, but we remain confident there will continue to be plenty of CFO changes to keep the finance department busy.