Human Capital: Page 109

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    Money Sense Overseas

    In the course of his 26-year finance career, Dean Gardner has lived in Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America, for a total of 9 years abroad. While it may sound surprising, Gardner, a partner with Tatum LLC who is the current CFO of International Garden Products, says he found the posts to be “l...

    By Art Detman • Oct. 1, 2007
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    Second Life’s John Zdanowski

    John Zdanowski, 39, lives in two worlds. He spends up to 15 hours a week working “in-world” as the handsome avatar Zee Linden, who bears a striking resemblance to Brad Pitt. In the real world, he rungs the finances for one of Silicon Valley’s most innovative companies, Linden Lab, creator of the ...

    By Alan Rappeport • Oct. 1, 2007
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    Pointing Fingers

    Already, dozens of subprime-mortgage companies have either filed for bankruptcy or gone out of business altogether thanks to the faltering housing market. Not surprisingly, the ones that remain are quietly hoping the crisis passes soon — very soon.In fact, when CFO tried to reach out to a host of...

    By Kate Plourd • Oct. 1, 2007
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    Board Buddies

    Even the best of us can use some coaching. In the CFO suite, increasingly that coaching comes from the finance expert serving on the company’s board of directors.With 17 years’ experience as a CFO, Earl Fry, finance chief of Redwood City, California-based Informatica Corp., acts as mentor to his ...

    By Kate Plourd • Oct. 1, 2007
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    New AstraZeneca CFO Fills Big Shoes

    AstraZeneca has named Simon Lowth as CFO, replacing Jonathan Symonds, who abruptly resigned in June to join Goldman, Sachs as a managing director.Lowth, who will be responsible for AstraZeneca’s finance and information services, joins the drug company from Scottish Power PLC, where he was finance...

    By Stephen Taub • Sept. 28, 2007
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    VEBA Is New Buzzword for Retirees

    The landmark settlement between General Motors and its unions on Thursday highlights the need for old-line companies to drastically pare costs to compete with non-unionized competitors. The key element of the deal is that GM can remove from its balance sheet the value of its future retiree health...

    By Stephen Taub • Sept. 27, 2007
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending September 28

    • Best Buy has made several changes to its leadership team, including the position of CFO. The retailer moved its seven-year CFO, Darren Jackson, to the new position of executive vice president of customer operating groups. He will lead the company’s entertainment, PC mobility, and home solution...

    By Sarah Johnson • Sept. 27, 2007
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    State Street Freezes Pension Plan

    State Street Corp. is the latest among a growing number of companies to shift its emphasis from traditional pension plans to defined contribution plans.The world’s largest institutional money manager said it is discontinuing contributions to its defined benefit plan for new employees. At the same...

    By Stephen Taub • Sept. 25, 2007
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    Lehman Taps Insider for CFO Post

    Lehman Brothers has shaken up its finance department: the investment bank says chief financial officer Chris O’Meara will assume the role of global head of risk management, and will be replaced by Erin Callan. The changes are effective December 1. As part of the announcement, Lehman also says Mad...

    By Marie Leone • Sept. 21, 2007
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    Bullish on Exec Recruiting, Heidrick Pays Dividend

    Touting bright prospects for executive recruiting in general and for its own growth in particular, Heidrick & Struggles International reported on Thursday that it would begin paying a dividend.The headhunting giant, which has placed its fair share of finance executives, said its board of dire...

    By Stephen Taub • Sept. 20, 2007
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending September 21

    • Lawrence White announced he would retire from his position as CFO of Tennessee-based CBRL Group Inc., which operates the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain, in February 2008. White has worked for the company for more than eight years. He will remain in a consulting position for 18 months following...

    By Kate Plourd • Sept. 20, 2007
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    Audit Committees Embracing Accountants

    Accountants are apparently making inroads on corporate board audit committees. Over the past five years, the portion of accountants sitting on audit committees has doubled from six percent to 12 percent, according to a Huron Consulting Group report.What’s more, 23 percent of all committee chairs ...

    By Stephen Taub • Sept. 20, 2007
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    Hello, I Must Be Going

    John J. Leahy resigned as executive vice president and CFO of Hanover Insurance Group Inc. after less than three weeks on the job, citing personal reasons, the company said. Worchester, Mass.-based Hanover didn’t elaborate on the departure of Leahy, although spokesman Michael Buckley told CFO.co...

    By Kate Plourd • Sept. 20, 2007
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    Equity Options

    It is often said that making changes at a large company is like turning around an ocean vessel: a long, slow process. Harry Morley knows this better than most, having spent several years in finance at P&O, a shipping company. After six years at the London-listed firm, Morley grew weary of the...

    By Jason Karaian • Sept. 20, 2007
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    Retiree Medical Miscount Leads to Restatement

    Westmoreland Coal said it will restate its 2006 results to correct an error in its calculation of post-retirement medical benefit liabilities.The company said it found that a group of 131 retirees eligible for medical benefits had been omitted from census data used to calculate the liability. The...

    By Stephen Taub • Sept. 19, 2007
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    For Most, It’s Just a Dream: Being Your Own Boss

    Ever fantasized about telling an overbearing boss to take a hike, and starting your own business? According to a new survey, most executives concede that when push comes to shove, daydreaming about such a life-changing decision is likely to remain just that. Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of resp...

    By Stephen Taub • Sept. 18, 2007
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    Dynegy Settles Investment Charges with Pensioners

    A federal judge has approved a settlement between Dynegy and participants in one of its retirement plans.The Houston-based energy company had agreed to pay $10 million to more than 1,900 participants and beneficiaries of a retirement plan at Illinois Power Co., a former Dynegy subsidiary, accordi...

    By Stephen Taub • Sept. 18, 2007
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    Nestle CFO Polman Reported to Be CEO Pick

    Nestle SA, the world’s largest food company, is expected to name current chief financial officer Paul Polman as its new chief executive, according to a number of published reports. The reports predicted that official word could break on Thursday. Polman joined Nestle in 2005 after a quarter-centu...

    By Stephen Taub • Sept. 17, 2007
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    New CFO to Guide WellPoint Growth

    After an astonishing earnings report, Canadian software and services provider WellPoint Systems Inc. has announced it will bring in a new finance chief to oversee its overflowing books. The Calgary-based company with operations in Texas, New Jersey, Florida and Tunisia, hired Stephen Massel to t...

    By Kate Plourd • Sept. 13, 2007
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending September 14

    • Sears Holdings has named J. Miles Reidy as CFO. Reidy will begin his new job in October. He joins the retailer from the banking industry and most recently worked at Capital One Financial, where he served as CFO of its credit card division. Sears has emphasized Reidy’s expertise in quantitative...

    By Sarah Johnson • Sept. 13, 2007
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    Match Point: Suit Targets 401(k) Losses

    A group of employees at Countrywide Financial filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, its CEO, and others deemed to be responsible for overseeing the employees’ retirement plan. The suit, filed in federal court in Santa Ana, California, claims that the alleged illegal actions of the mor...

    By Stephen Taub • Sept. 13, 2007
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    CFOs Play Musical Chairs at Biopharm Company

    Less than a week after switching CFOs at one of its subsidiaries, CytRx Corp. did the same thing at the home office. On Wednesday, the biopharmaceutical research and development company said that Mitchell Fogelman was the company’s new CFO, with Matthew Natalizio leaving to pursue other opportuni...

    By David Katz and Stephen Taub • Sept. 12, 2007
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    Prediction: A Year-End Hiring Spree

    Christmas may come early for job seekers in finance.CFOs say they intend to hire more professionals during the fourth quarter than they did in the third, according to a new survey by staffing firm Robert Half International. What’s more, the hiring trend year-over-year is expected to rise two perc...

    By Marie Leone • Sept. 12, 2007
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    Rate of Health Costs Slows Down

    Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose an average of 6.1 percent in 2007, marking the lowest increase in nearly a decade.Indeed, the latest calculation is less than last year’s 7.7 percent increase and the smallest increase since 1999, when premiums rose 5.3 percent, according to t...

    By Stephen Taub • Sept. 11, 2007
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    The Harder Side of Sears

    Sears Holdings has named J. Miles Reidy as CFO. Reidy, who comes to the retailer from a long finance career in the banking industry, will begin his new job in October.It is not immediately clear why Sears turned to someone with an extensive banking background to run a retail operation, but, in an...

    By Stephen Taub • Sept. 10, 2007