Change is good. It’s the kind of vague platitude someone might share with you after a brutal breakup, and it’s also the kind of thing companies said to their CFOs this year.
CFO turnover at publicly traded companies climbed to a three-year high in the first quarter of this year, according to analysis from executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates, which noted the jump “demonstrates that as economic uncertainty becomes the new normal for organizations, the trepidation to replace CFOs has dissipated.”
As any CFO who had to switch posts before they really wanted to can attest: Uh, yeah. Without further ado, here’s a (nonexhaustive) list of some of the biggest CFO switchups of 2024 so far.
The CFO next door. This June, OpenAI hired Sarah Friar to serve as its CFO, per a company release. Most recently, she served as CEO of Nextdoor, the neighborhood-oriented social network app, and has also previously served as CFO at payment processing company Square.
In a statement, the artificial intelligence organization said Friar will “lead a finance team that supports our mission by providing continued investment in our core research capabilities, and ensuring that we can scale to meet the needs of our growing customer base and the complex and global environment in which we are operating.” (And yes, the announcement was written by OpenAI.)
Feels like home. When Ellie Mertz took over as CFO at Airbnb in March, she was already a true insider, given that she first joined the vacation rental company in 2013. “I feel like, 11 years in, I’ve been training for this role for that entire decade-plus,” Mertz previously told CFO Brew.
Mertz is getting the best of both worlds with the new role, in her own telling. While she’s now in the top finance seat, her former mentor, and the company’s former CFO, Dave Stephenson is staying on board in the newly created role of chief business officer.
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Long time running. Google parent Alphabet said in June that Eli Lilly’s Anat Ashkenazi will take over as CFO, replacing Ruth Porat, the company’s longest-serving CFO, effective July 31. Porat’s departure as CFO was first announced in July 2023. She’s staying on in the CFO seat through the company’s Q2 earnings until Ashkenazi’s start date. Then, she’ll transition into a new role as president and chief investment officer.
Moving on up. In May, Instacart said its VP of finance, Emily Reuter, would be stepping into the CFO seat after former CFO Nick Giovanni announced his retirement.
Before her previous role at Instacart, Reuter was with Uber for almost a decade, serving as CFO of the company’s rides division and later as head of corporate finance for the company. In a memo announcing the news, Instacart CEO Fidji Simo noted that Reuter’s previous roles granted her “a well-earned reputation for driving methodical, profitable growth on a massive scale.”
Top dog. In March, Gary Millerchip took over as CFO of Costco, replacing longtime CFO Richard Galanti. For some Costco fanatics, Galanti’s departure led to one, and only one, question: What about my $1.50 hot dog and soda combo?
Since 1985, when Galanti stepped into the CFO role, the wholesale retailer has kept the price of its classic combo the same. Galanti, who has gone to bat for keeping the low price point, told Bloomberg it’s “probably safe for a while” after his departure. Millerchip, for his part, said the $1.50 hot dog is “safe” just two months into his stint as CFO. Here’s to hoping.