CFOs on the Move: Week Ending Dec. 7

Louise Higgins, chief financial and strategy officer at ABC, resigned. Higgins, who joined the network in 20l7, will leave her post in February.Ellie Mae said Dan Madden will take over the top finance spot, effective Dec. 20. He now heads finance at Revel Systems.Insurer American International Gr...

By Joan Urdang • Dec. 7, 2018

AIG Discloses Significant Catastrophe Losses; Names New CFO

AIG CEO Brian Duperreault said the company accumulated $750 million to $800 million in catastrophe losses in the fourth quarter, but its general insurance unit is on track to enter 2019 “at a slight underwriting profit.” The catastrophe losses do not include December.Duperreault said the company ...

By William Sprouse • Dec. 6, 2018

Explore the Trendline➔

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

Bio Material: The Quiz

Whether it’s job experience, education, native country, or length of tenure, finance chiefs have a smorgasbord of backgrounds. For example, which MBA program has produced the most sitting CFOs of large companies? To test your knowledge of such facts about finance chiefs at Fortune 500 and S&P...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Dec. 4, 2018

The Shifting Nature of Finance Work

If there’s a phrase to describe the marching orders of finance departments, it’s “adapt as fast as you can.” Not only are finance chiefs and their teams trying to accomplish more on modest budgets, they are also tasked with new responsibilities and adjusting to new ways of working. And the timeli...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Dec. 4, 2018

Prepare for This Pay-for-Performance Measure

Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) is one of the largest proxy advisory firms in the United States. Among many other services, it helps institutional investors evaluate executive pay practices. In early 2018, ISS announced the acquisition of EVA Dimensions, an equity research firm that uses...

By Marwaan Karame • Dec. 4, 2018

Lease Accounting Special Report: Ready or Not

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued new rules on lease accounting that will move most operating leases onto a company’s balance sheet. Currently, only capital leases are required to be recognized on the balance sheet. Public entities are required to adopt the new lea...

By Rob Lenihan • Dec. 3, 2018

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending Nov. 30

Online trading platform Robinhood named Jason Warnick its first finance chief. He most recently was vice president of finance at Amazon.Also leaving Amazon is Dave Stephenson, who has been appointed to head finance at Airbnb. He formerly was vice president and CFO of Amazon’s Worldwide Consumer O...

By Joan Urdang • Nov. 30, 2018

6 Diet-based Ways to Pare Health Costs

With health-care spending projected to rise an average of 5.5% annually from 2017 to 2026, and with the competition for employees growing fierce, it’s a good time for creative solutions that nourish employees from the inside out.Food is at the heart of the issue, and healthy employees and the foo...

By Certified Health Coach and Marissa Costonis • Nov. 30, 2018

Another Amazon Finance Exec Leaves for a CFO Post

The online trading platform Robinhood hired Amazon vice president Jason Warnick to be its first-ever CFO ahead of an expected initial public offering.Warnick joined Amazon in 1999. He was most recently vice president of finance and chief of staff to CFO Brian Olsavsky.He’s the second high-ranking...

By William Sprouse • Nov. 28, 2018

How to Prepare for the Recession on the Horizon

What will companies do when the next recession hits the U.S. economy? It’s a question that’s becoming more urgent as the long-term outlook for the economy becomes increasingly uncertain.There are warning signals, such as the increasing frequency of triple-digit Dow Jones losses and warnings by fo...

By Matt Hare and Huron Capital • Nov. 27, 2018

United Technologies Ditches Conglomerate Model

United Technologies announced Tuesday it will split up into three companies, bowing to investor disenchantment over the conglomerate model of doing business it had followed for decades.The breakup will focus United Technologies on its aviation business, with elevator manufacturer Otis and the Car...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 27, 2018

Airbnb Names New CFO

Airbnb hired a new chief financial officer, Dave Stephenson, after a search of nearly 10 months, the company announced in a blog post Monday morning.Stephenson was most recently a vice president and CFO at Amazon’s Worldwide Consumer Organization. He is the second Amazon executive to join Airbnb ...

By William Sprouse • Nov. 26, 2018

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending Nov. 23

Benjamin Fink has been named CFO and executive vice president, finance, at Anadarko Petroleum. He replaces Bob Gwin, who has been promoted to president. Fink formerly was senior vice president of finance, as well as president and CEO of the general partners of Western Gas Partners and Western Gas...

By Joan Urdang • Nov. 21, 2018

Sen. Chuck Grassley Returns to Head Finance Committee

Iowa Republican Charles “Chuck” Grassley will take over leadership of the Senate finance committee at the start of the 116th Congress, replacing Sen. Orrin Hatch, who is retiring.Grassley, who is giving up the chairmanship of the judiciary committee, said on Friday that he wanted to continue to w...

By Vincent Ryan • Nov. 19, 2018

Dell Sweetens Tracking Stock Buyback by $2B

Dell Technologies on Thursday sweetened its offer to buy back its tracking stock by about $2.2 billion and claimed the support of major shareholders for the revised proposal.Dell’s original offer had come under fierce attack from activist investor Carl Icahn, who holds a 9.3% stake in the Class V...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 15, 2018

Macy’s Beats Estimates, Ups Guidance

Macy’s reported adjusted earnings per share of 27 cents for the third quarter, on the strength of digital sales, beating analyst estimates of 14 cents per share, according to Refinitiv. The company reported revenue of $5.40 billion, compared with the $5.41 billion that was expected.Macy’s also ra...

By William Sprouse • Nov. 14, 2018

Halliburton CFO Leaves After 17 Months

With Halliburton‘s shares down 25% since July and 42% the last 12 months, the company might welcome an executive skilled in investor relations as CFO.On Tuesday, the oilfield services company announced that CFO Chris Weber, who had been finance chief since June 2017, was leaving to “pursue other ...

By Vincent Ryan • Nov. 13, 2018

Kodak Issues ‘Going Concern’ Warning

Eastman Kodak has warned that its future as a going concern is in “substantial doubt” due to liquidity challenges that could affect its ability to pay off a $395 million loan.The company has been in negotiations with lenders over a refinancing of the loan, which becomes due when it matures on Sep...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 12, 2018

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending Nov. 9

Power company The AES Corp. has promoted deputy CFO Gustavo Pimenta to the top finance spot, effective Jan. 1. He will take over for Tom O’Flynn, who will focus on raising third-party capital.Neel Dev has been appointed to lead the finance function at telecommunications firm CenturyLink. He had b...

By Joan Urdang • Nov. 9, 2018

Toshiba Reveals Plan to Cut 7,000 Jobs

Toshiba on Thursday announced plans to cut 7,000 jobs as part of a five-year turnaround strategy that involves selling off its U.S. natural gas business and its U.K. nuclear power business.The company said it also would buy back 40% of its shares. The announcement sent Toshiba shares up nearly 13...

By William Sprouse • Nov. 9, 2018

Oil Prices Dip Into Bear Market Territory

Global oil prices fell on Friday, as waivers for the sale of Iranian crude and fears of a slowdown in China weighed on the market.Brent crude contracts for January delivery, the global benchmark, fell 0.7% to $70.18U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 29 cents, or 0.5%, to $60.38 by midmorning...

By William Sprouse • Nov. 9, 2018

Digital Transformation Predictions for 2019

As someone with a 20-year career in ERP consulting, I can tell you that the market today is in significant flux. Here we present our predictions for how the ERP market — and digital transformations — will unfold in 2019:1. Traditional ERP implementations will become increasingly obsolete. Impleme...

By Eric Kimberling • Nov. 8, 2018

SASB Unveils Sustainability Accounting Standards

After six years of preparation, an independent standard-setting organization has published a set of accounting standards aimed at promoting sustainable development.The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board said its standards are the first to combine industry specificity with financial materia...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 8, 2018

Sage Group Elevates CFO Steve Hare to CEO

After two months as interim head of The Sage Group, CFO Steve Hare has been named permanent chief executive of the U.K. accounting software giant, replacing Stephen Kelly.Sage had initiated an external search for a new CEO after Kelly was ousted in August. But on Friday, it announced the appointm...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 6, 2018

CVS Health Beats Earnings Estimates

CVS Health reported quarterly earnings per share of $1.73 per share on revenue of $47.3 billion, beating analyst estimates and sending shares up 1.9% in pre-market trading. Analysts had forecast earnings per share of $1.71 and revenue of $47.2 billion.The health-care company reported third-quarte...

By William Sprouse • Nov. 6, 2018