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It’s not in your head: CFOs were all over the place this year.
In the first six months of 2023, there were 103 CFO changes within the Fortune 1000, Heidrick & Struggles, a search firm, found. That’s up from 79 during the same period in 2022. But even in the midst of all these shakeups, some CFO moves stood out.
One of the most consequential CFO switchups this year arrived in the form of a botched potential succession plan. After 13 years with Tesla, CFO Zach Kirkhorn unexpectedly stepped down from the carmaker in August. Not too long before, Tesla board members had considered Kirkhorn as a potential successor to Elon Musk, according to the Wall Street Journal.
And Kirkhorn seemed set to fill those shoes. In the same report, the Journal noted the similarity between Musk and Kirkhorn’s relationship and that of another notable duo: Steve Jobs and protégé Tim Cook. But in a loss for the black turtleneck and New Balance community, Kirkhorn ultimately wasn’t interested in following in Musk's footsteps.
Some CFOs stepped down with less fanfare, and without disrupting elaborate succession schemes. That was the case for Google and Alphabet’s longest-serving CFO, Ruth Porat, who backed down from the finance chief role this September in order to step into a role made just for her: president and chief investment officer.
Meanwhile, other companies added new titles to their roster. Amid reports Plaid might consider going public, the company hired former Expedia CFO Eric Hart as its finance chief, marking the fintech startup’s first CFO to date.
Hart’s 13-year tenure at Expedia included a stint as the company’s chief strategy officer before he became CFO in 2019. But if the timing between a possible IPO and a brand-new CFO seems auspicious… no, it isn’t, according to Plaid. As a spokesperson for the company told TechCrunch, “We do not have any plans to IPO at this time…It will be a milestone we consider at some point but no timeline to share.”
And beyond new titles and first-ever CFOs, some CFO shakeups were notable for the disparity of the companies in question. Take Ravi Thanawala, who was hired as Papa John’s International’s new CFO in July after working in…sneaker sales? Before joining the pizza delivery mainstay, Thanawala was CFO for Nike North America. In total, he was with the sports apparel company for around seven years.
In at least one case, a seemingly unrelated pivot also led to a major pay raise. Incoming Walt Disney Company CFO Hugh Johnston, who was previously finance chief for PepsiCo, doubled his pay by taking the new role: In 2022, at PepsiCo, Johnston made a base salary of a milli; at Disney, he’s set to make $2 million.
Let’s hope other CFOs (and, you know, everyday folks) can make some similar power moves in 2024.