It’s our job to know what’s happening in the world of business. If you’ve read one of our Executive Profiles, you understand why. We don’t just list the facts about the leaders of the biggest companies across the U.S. We put those facts in context, to help our customers get the insight they need to forge powerful connections with powerful leaders.
Just as important as who those people are and what they’re interested in is where they are — the roles they’re taking or leaving and the track record they establish along the way. That’s why we’re going to start writing about those key executive moves, so you stay as up to date as we are.
If this leaves you wanting more information, every executive we feature here has a complete profile available for download in the Boardroom Insiders platform. (Not a customer? Click here to learn more.)
Here’s what you need to know:
Two key hires at Yum! Brands Inc.
Yum! Brands Inc. — the parent company of fast food favorites Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut — has added two new executives to its C-suite this month. Mark King is now CEO of Taco Bell, and Arthur Starrs is president and CEO of Pizza Hut US. Prior to taking over Taco Bell, King was a longtime Adidas executive: He served as the president of Adidas Group North America and as CEO of TaylorMade-Adidas Golf, which became the most profitable golf company in the world under his leadership. Starrs is an internal promotion, having previously served as president for Pizza Hut US, as well as general manager and chief financial officer of the company.
King and Starrs take on these new high-profile roles at a time of significant growth for Yum! Brands. The company’s second-quarter earnings topped analysts’ expectations. Taco Bell in particular is the company’s top performer, with same-store sales that have grown consistently for the past 12 quarters.
Pizza Hut also delivered strong results for the second quarter. However, it looks like Starrs has a challenge ahead of him: Pizza Hut has consistently been Yum! Brands’ weakest division.
Big changes at Western Union.
Khalid Fellahi takes over as president and global head of consumer money transfer at Western Union Company as the company begins a corporate shedding of people and costs. The company has announced plans to trim roughly 10% of its headcount as part of an effort to cut $100 million from its annual costs starting in 2021. The money transfer business in particular is expected to incur restructuring costs of $100 million in 2019 and $50 million in 2020. The company has said it will reveal more about its plans at its investor day on September 24th in Denver.
One less female CIO in the Fortune 500.
Anne Mullins has stepped down from her role as CIO and corporate VP of enterprise business services at Lockheed Martin Corporation. Mullins had an epic career with Lockheed Martin, going back all the way to 2003. Prior to her time as CIO, she led a $1 billion arm of Lockheed’s business and a team of more than 1,200 employees worldwide. When she took the CIO role in 2015, she joined the relatively few female CIOs of the Fortune 500. As of 2018, about 20% of Fortune 500 CIOs were women. That’s better than the number of female CEOs — about 6% at last count (Lockheed Martin is one of them, with CEO Marillyn Hewson) — but still a dramatic underrepresentation, when you consider that 57% of the workforce is made up of women.
New leadership after an executive shakeup at MFA Oil Company.
Back in April, then-CEO of MFA Oil Company Robert Condron left abruptly. The company stayed relatively mum as to why, but the search began for his replacement. That search has now come to an end: The company, the seventh-largest propane retailer in the U.S., has named Jon Ihler president and CEO (he has been serving as interim CEO for the past few months). Ihler joined the company back in 2001, working for its Big O Tires and Jiffy Lube subsidiaries. He left for a few years to run his own franchised automotive business and then returned to MFA Oil in 2006 as business development manager and director of sales and marketing.
Along with the new CEO, MFA Oil announced another executive hire: Jeff Raetz has been promoted to chief financial officer at the company. Raetz joined the company in 2015.
More executives on the move…
- Lisa Bacus has left her role as EVP & Global Chief Marketing and Customer Officer, CIGNA Corporation.
- Charlie Barker is now sales manager, senior cyber security, Verizon Business, Verizon Communications Inc.
- Philip Bates has stepped down as EVP, Business Transformation and Operations, TELUS Corporation.
- Matthew Berberian is now VP, design and development, 25Madison, LLC.
- Jason Birnbaum is now SVP, digital technology, United Airlines, Inc.
- George Brady is now EVP, Technology, Capital One Financial Corporation.
- Susan Diamond is now segment president, Home Solutions, Humana Inc.
- Bob Gentile is now VP and CIO, US Information Technology, Ingram Micro Inc.
- George Gill has left his position as EVP and CMO, Charles Schwab Corporation.
- Chris Haaker has left his role as director, End User Compute Innovation, RELX Group plc.
- Martin Hjalm is now managing director, Vaimo USA.
- David Martin has left his role as SVP, Global Sales, Marketing and Operations, CoreLogic, Inc.
- Martin Ray retired from his role in Supply Chain Logistics, AT&T Services, Inc.
- Robert Romeo retired as director of credit for AT&T Inc.
- Herlin Sutanto has left her role as CEO, Cigna Insurance Services, Cigna Indonesia.
- Adam Turner is now IT Director, EMEA Retail, Estee Lauder Companies Inc.
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