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Wal-Mart names new CFO, women in the finance spotlight.
By Denise Bedell
Wal-Mart will have a new finance chief come November 30. CFO Tom Schoewe will retire from his position, and Treasurer and EVP of Finance Charles Holley will take over the top finance spot.
Holley has been deeply involved in Wal-Mart’s global expansion, and will spearhead its latest emerging markets growth initiatives - including its current acquisitional streak in Africa. The company is now in talks to purchase South African wholesale and retail outfit Massmart for $4 billion.
Wal-Mart, which has been suffering under weak sales in many western markets, is focusing on building its presence in developing economies - both through acquisition and organic growth. The company returned $9.4 billion to shareholders in the first half of the year through dividends and share repurchases.
As Wal-Mart CEO Michael Duke noted in a release: “Tom [Holley] has been a key member of Wal-Mart’s strategic team for the past decade and has overseen our financial functions during a period of tremendous growth and international expansion. During that time he played a leading role in strengthening our balance sheet and our financial controls, and in establishing the financial priorities of growth, leverage and returns that guide our business.”
In his role as EVP and treasurer, Holley was responsible for corporate strategy and planning, tax, investor relations, corporate mergers and acquisitions, risk management, and treasury operations - including capital markets and cash management, according to the company.
He came to Wal-Mart from Tandy, where he was managing director of the European Memorex division and director of finance for international operations.
Schoewe spent 14 years at Black & Decker - finally as CFO - before joining Wal-Mart in 2000. He will stay on to help manage the transition until the end of January.
Elsewhere, Peter Williams will retire from his position as finance director of UK publishing giant Daily Mail and General Trust. Williams - who has headed finance at DMGT since 1991 - with finish his tenure in March, and will be succeeded by Stephen Daintith.
Daintith has a long history within the publishing industry. He joins from Dow Jones, where he is COO and CFO. The finance chief began at Dow Jones in April 2008, coming from News International - where he also held the post of CFO.
Viacom has appointed James Barge as chief financial officer—a promotion from his previous position of EVP and controller of Tax and Treasury. He takes over from Thomas Dooley, who was promoted to COO - reporting directly under the CEO - in May. Dooley was CFO of Viacom from January 2007.
As finance chief, Barge will handle financial reporting and planning, accounting, and tax and treasury management, along with overseeing the IT function.
Katherine Gill-Charest - VP and deputy controller, has also been promoted. She moves up to the post of SVP and Controller.
Lee Dong-Hee, former CFO of Korean firm POSCO - one of the world’s largest steelmakers - will take over as chief executive and chairman of Daewoo International. POSCO is completing its acquisition of the international trade and manufacturing firm this month, paying $2.8 billion for the company.
Cathie Lesjak, interim CEO and chief financial officer of HP, will step down from the chief executive position and return to her job just overseeing finance - after the announcement of new CEO Léo Apotheker, former CEO of SAP. Lesjak was made CFO in early 2007 and was appointed interim CEO in August this year.
Kathryn Mickells will take over as EVP and CFO of water treatment firm Nalco. Mickells comes to the company from UAL - the United Airlines parent company, which completed its merger on Friday.
Big four global advertising firm Interpublic has announced that Tara Comonte will move from her post as COO and CFO of its Mediabrands unit to become CFO of the firm’s McCann WorldGroup division. Jeff Lupinacci, CFO of Mediabrands North America, will take over as CFO of Mediabrands Global and Greg Walsh, currently head of client finance at Mediabrands North America, will step up to the post of CFO for Mediabrands North America.
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