Google Exec Wheeler Named Tesla CFO

After a lengthy search, Tesla Motors has hired Google finance executive Jason Wheeler to replace Deepak Ahuja as CFO.Tesla had announced in June that Ahuja was retiring but would stay on to help search for a successor at the fast-growing electric car maker. Wheeler, Google’s vice president of fin...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 4, 2015

Groupon Drops 30% on Weak Q4 Guidance

Groupon’s shares fell more than 30% in pre-market trading Wednesday on news of a CEO change, a mixed third-quarter report, and weak guidance for the upcoming holiday season.The e-commerce marketplace reported revenues for the third quarter were flat at $714 million compared to a year ago, missing...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Nov. 4, 2015

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Top 5 stories from CFO.com

From CPA licensure changes to undergoing a digital transformation, these are the most popular stories CFOs are reading. 

By CFO.com staff

Finding the Right Talent for Projects: A Gift that Keeps on Giving

All too often, talent is viewed as a cost. I want to help you understand why you should help your organization view project talent in particular as an investment rather than a cost.Mark Langley, CEO, PMI The simple truth is there are financial and opportunity costs related to inadequate investmen...

By Mark A. Langley • Nov. 4, 2015

Don’t Let Acquired Patents Sink the Ship

Markets hate uncertainty. It’s akin to an odious smell in an otherwise perfectly good eatery. Even the most dedicated patrons keep their distance until the stink is gone or until they have no place else to go. The U.S. patent market is no different.Driven largely by the lingering uncertainty over...

By David Magee • Nov. 4, 2015

Jawbone Strikes Back at Fitbit Patent Suit

In the latest salvo in a multi-pronged legal battle between two leading makers of wearable fitness devices, Jawbone has accused Fitbit of conducting a “by-any-means-necessary campaign” to maintain market dominance.The companies have been trading lawsuits since June, when Jawbone alleged that Fitb...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 3, 2015

Sprint Posts Wider-Than-Expected Loss

While Sprint’s loss last quarter was wider than expected, the number four U.S. wireless carrier was at least able finally to stem defections of core postpaid phone customers.Sprint on Tuesday posted a net loss of $585 million, or 15 cents per share, on revenue of $7.98 billion, for its second fis...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Nov. 3, 2015

CFO Perks Didn’t Perk Up in 2014

The value of perquisites provided to CFOs seems to have reached a point of equilibrium, at least for now.According to research from Compensation Advisory Partners (CAP), the median value of CFO perks among Fortune 500 companies held steady at $24,900 in 2014. Back in 2012 that figure fell sharply...

By David McCann • Nov. 3, 2015

Activision Blizzard Buys King Digital for $5.9B

Activision Blizzard, publisher of popular video games Call of Duty and Destiny, is buying Candy Crush Saga-maker King Digital for $5.9 billion.The two companies entered an agreement under which Santa Monica, Calif.-based Activision Blizzard would acquire all outstanding King Digital shares for $1...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Nov. 3, 2015

The New Mobility

This month I am in the process of buying a new car — for the first time in over a decade. I travel so much for business that I actually don’t drive my own vehicles a lot — I have many more miles in rental cars in a year than I do in my own. So I tend to buy a new car infrequently, load it up with...

By John Parkinson • Oct. 30, 2015

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending Oct. 30

Greg Maxwell, CFO and executive vice president of finance at Phillips 66, is retiring at the end of the year. Kevin Mitchell, vice president of investor relations, will replace him on Jan. 1.Mike Pope Mike Pope has been named to the top finance spot at Shutterfly, succeeding Brian Regan. Previous...

By Joan Urdang • Oct. 30, 2015

CFO Pay Growth Slows to 4.9% in 2014

Many workers would be happy with a 4.9% raise. But for CFOs in 2014, it represented a lower increase than they saw the previous year. CEO compensation also slowed considerably in 2014, according to a survey from BDO.The BDO 600 CEO and CFO Pay Study found that average total CEO compensation ($3.0...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 30, 2015

U.S. GDP Growth Slows to 1.5%

U.S. gross domestic product growth slowed in the third quarter, as many companies did not restock their inventories — and concern over continued weakness in the economy mounted.The GDP grew at a 1.5% seasonally and inflation-adjusted annual rate in the third quarter, well below the 3.9% growth ra...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Oct. 29, 2015

Sales Taxes for Online Retailers: Tell Us What You Think

Should Congress force out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes in states where they don’t have a physical presence?As deputy editor David Katz writes in the introduction to this edition of Square-Off, “While online consumers have always been required to pay taxes to their states on online pu...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Oct. 29, 2015

Fed Points Toward Rate Hike in December

The U.S. Federal Reserve voted Wednesday to keep interest rates unchanged but the odds of a December rate hike appear to have improved.Following its latest two-day policy meeting, the bank’s Federal Open Market Committee issued a statement that downplayed recent global financial market turmoil an...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 29, 2015

Twitter Stock Dives on Disappointing Q3

Twitter’s shares took a nosedive after the San Francisco company posted disappointing third-quarter user growth and a weak forecast for this quarter.Twitter reported 320 million monthly active users in the third quarter, versus the 324 million expected by analysts. While it posted better-than-exp...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Oct. 28, 2015

Wellness Programs: Tell Us What You Think

Workplace wellness has become a $6 billion industry in the United States. After all, what company doesn’t want to cut their health benefits bill? But do wellness programs actually save companies money? Our Square-Off panel had some polarizing views on the subject.Soeren Mattke says the RAND Welln...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Oct. 28, 2015

Ex-St. Joe CFO, Others Accused of Improper Accounting

St. Joe Co., its former CFO, and three other former executives have agreed to pay a combined $3.7 million to settle charges that the Florida developer and landowner failed to properly account for the declining value of residential properties during the financial crisis.St. Joe materially overstat...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 27, 2015

Square Posts Largest Quarterly Loss Since 2014

Square on Monday said it posted its largest quarterly loss since at least the fourth quarter of 2013, which could hurt the payments startup in its pending initial public offering.The San Francisco company lost $53.9 million in the third quarter on slowing sales, according to its amended regulator...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Oct. 27, 2015

Pay Ratio Rule: Tell Us What You Think

Here’s your chance to help shape the debate on the CEO pay ratio rule.Most companies staunchly oppose the rule, which beginning in 2018 will require them to disclose the ratio of the CEO’s compensation to the median pay level among all company workers.Three experts have already shared their opini...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Oct. 27, 2015

Xerox Reviewing ‘Options’ — But Not Sale

Xerox on Monday reported its first quarterly net loss in nearly six years and said it was reviewing its businesses and capital allocation options — but not an outright sale.Like rivals Lexmark International and Hewlett-Packard, Xerox has been hit by corporate customers cutting printing costs and ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Oct. 26, 2015

More Issuers Revealing Pre-IPO Weaknesses

As most market watchers know, the number of initial public offerings has soared in recent years. Much less obviously, and maybe a bit counterintuitively, another capital-markets trend has emerged: The percentage of IPOs revealing material weaknesses in their internal controls before they go publi...

By David Katz • Oct. 26, 2015

Seeking a Glide Path

Before the financial crisis, a finance executive might have been forgiven for thinking that managing the company’s pension fund wasn’t very difficult. After all, the right mix of equity and fixed-income investments could reliably form the backbone of a solid portfolio. There were risks, of course...

By Josh Hyatt and David W. Owens • Oct. 26, 2015

Amazon Rides to Q3 Profit on Cloud Growth

Amazon.com has posted a surprise third-quarter profit of $79 million, or 17 cents a share, as its fast-growing cloud computing division generated almost as much operating income as its North American e-commerce business.Income swung positive from a net loss of $437 million, or $0.95 a share, in t...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 23, 2015

401(k)s: Eye on Providers

When David Sackett was spearheading the selection of a new 401(k) provider for his employer in 2013, what he knew most clearly was that he didn’t know much.“My level of confidence that I was taking the right steps was very shaky the whole time,” recalls Sackett, corporate controller at ULVAC Tech...

By David McCann • Oct. 23, 2015

Caterpillar Misses Estimates, But Stock Rallies

Caterpillar on Thursday posted third-quarter revenue and profits that were below analysts’ estimates and reduced its outlook for full-year 2015, citing an “extremely challenging” environment.The construction and mining giant’s earnings, excluding restructuring costs, fell 56% to $0.75 per share, ...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 22, 2015