- Mercury Rising: Knight Ridder Inc. named Jean Mordo CFO of the San Jose, Calif.-based newspaper publishing group and publisher of San Jose Mercury News. He fills a vacancy left by former CFO Ross Jones, who announced his retirement in September and left the company at the end of last year. Mordo, 56, comes to Knight Ridder from Scotts Company Inc., in Columbus, Ohio, where he served as group executive VP of Scotts International, from 1998 to 2000, and as executive VP/CFO from 1997 to 1999. In 1999, Jones took home $563,632 in salary, $364,846 in bonus and $106,110 in all other compensation.
- Hot Stuff: Culver City, Calif.-based restaurant operator Sizzler International Inc. named A. Keith Wall as CFO, replacing Steven Selcer, who left last year to pursue other interests. Wall was most recently CFO of Central Financial Acceptance Corp. in Commerce, Calif. In 1999, Selcer earned $138,469 in salary and other compensation.
- Bring in the New: N.E.W. Customer Service Companies Inc., a Dulles, Va.-based provider of extended service contracts and buyer protection programs for consumer products, announced that David Bosserman has been named CFO. His experience includes positions at Deloitte & Touche LLP, Best Software Inc., and Worldweb.net.
- Pay It Forward: Phase Forward Inc., a Waltham, Mass.-based provider of e-process services for the pharmaceutical industry, announced the appointment of John J. Schickling to the posts of SVP and CFO. Most recently, Schickling held the position of SVP of finance and operations for SynaPix Inc., a Lowell, Mass.-based company specializing in software development for film and video special effects.
- A Breath of Fresh Air: Sunrise, Fla.-based Airspan Networks Inc., a provider of broadband fixed wireless DSL networks, announced the appointment of Peter Aronstam as CFO effective immediately. Aronstam joins Airspan from Nortel Networks, where he was VP of customer finance. He was with Nortel since 1983 and held a variety of positions in the corporate treasury, export finance, mergers and acquisitions, and enterprise product sales departments. David Brant, who has been Airspan’s interim CFO, will assume his prior role as SVP of corporate finance.
- Conley to Go: McDonald’s Corp. announced that CFO Michael Conley is retiring. The Oak Brook, Ill.-based fast-food chain has launched a search for his replacement. According to a company statement, Conley had been planning to retire for personal reasons for some time. He has been with McDonald’s for 26 years, during the last three of which he held the CFO post.
- CFO Plus, Minus a President: Bellevue, Wash.-based Aris Corp., a provider of integrated E-business and IT solutions, announced the appointment of Fred Schapelhouman as VP of finance and CFO. Before joining Aris, Schapelhouman was president of CFO Plus Inc., a provider of financial consulting services to early stage technology companies. Schapelhouman will replace Diane Gamache, who was serving as interim CFO and resigned to pursue other interests.
- A New Regime: Mark King, former CFO of Affiliated Computer Services Inc., a Dallas, Tex.-based technology services company, was named to the company’s newly created position of COO. In addition, Warren Edwards, who was SVP of finance and accounting, was named CFO. In 2000, King earned $275,000 in salary and $430,971 in all other compensation.
- Papa’s New Family: PJ America Inc., the largest franchisee of Papa John’s International Inc., announced additions to its board of directors. They include Ross Davison, VP and CFO of Birmingham, Ala.-based PJ America, and David Lloyd, former CFO of Taco Cabana Inc.
- Going for the Gold: Copper Mountain Networks Inc. announced that chairman Joseph Markee and CFO John Creelman have resigned to pursue other opportunities. CEO Rick Gilbert will assume the additional role of chairman, while Michael Staiger, previously VP of business development, will assume the position of CFO. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based communications company also announced plans to restructure, including the elimination of about 25 percent of its 450-member workforce. In 1999, Markee took home $178,598 in salary and $63,000 in bonus.
- How Devine: General Motors Corp. announced that vice chairman and CFO John Devine will receive a financial package that includes a bonus of at least $1.5 million this year and options to buy 500,000 shares of the world’s biggest automaker. Devine, the former CFO of Ford Motor Co. who joined GM in December, will receive a base salary comparable to vice chairman Harry Pearce, according to a filing GM made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing did not specify Devine’s salary. Peace was paid a base salary of $1.35 million in 1999. Devine will receive a bonus of at least $1.5 million in 2001 and $1 million in 2002, according to the filing. GM will also grant Devine options to buy 300,000 of GM’s common shares, as part of a so-called “make-whole” package by the company to compensate Devine for the loss of benefits from previous employers. In addition, Devine was given a special stock option grant for 200,000 shares, which also vests at 20 percent per year beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date. Devine also will receive 200,000 restricted stock units, according to the filing. If he meets unspecified performance goals, the restricted stock units will vest at 10 percent during each of the first five anniversaries of his date of hire. The remainder will vest and becoming payable 18 months after retirement, if he retires five years after being hired. Each quarter, he will receive a dividend equivalent payment in cash based on the number of unvested restricted stock units. In 1999, from serving as the CFO at Ford, Devine took home $600,000 in salary, $1,720,000 in bonus and $721,140 in other compensation.