Executives on the Move: Gap faces slumping sales, WeWork charges ahead

Interest rates may be falling, and coronavirus is upon us, but C-suite executives aren’t hunkering down anytime soon. Many are leveling up to finish Q1 strong. Here are some of the latest changes.

Gap finds hope in Old Navy CEO

A lot can change in a year — just ask Gap. This time last year, the struggling retailer announced it would spin off its Old Navy subsidiary  into its own publicly traded entity. Then, this past January, it backed off those plans. A short time later, the company announced that Old Navy CEO Sonia Syngal would be taking the reins as the new chief executive of Gap. 

The promotion, effective March 23, is the company’s latest attempt to combat floundering sales, with its stock cratering to half its price from a year ago. 

But Syngal has spent a fair amount of time in the trenches. A mechanical engineer by trade, she started with the company in 2004 and rose up the ranks before assuming the top job at Old Navy in 2017. Once she assumes the post, she will be the newest female CEO in the Fortune 500, a designation that applies to just 6.6 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs.

Wells Fargo banking on change

It’s only been a few months since Charles Scharf took the helm at Wells Fargo, and he’s already putting his stamp on the embattled bank with a changing of the guard. 

Mike Weinbach will be the new CEO of Consumer Lending, effective in May. Weinbach currently serves as CEO of Mortgage Banking at JPMorgan Chase, one of Scharf’s previous employers. The company also promoted Mary Mack to CEO of Consumer and Small Business Banking. Jonathan Weiss has been named CEO of Corporate and Investment Banking, and Perry Pelos is now CEO of Commercial Banking.  

The moves come as Wells Fargo seeks to forge a new path for its beleaguered banking divisions. In late February, the bank agreed to a $3 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission to move on from its fake accounts controversy.

WeWork gets reworked

Sandeep Mathrani has his work cut out for him. As the new CEO of WeWork, Mathrani is tasked with remaking the struggling coworking giant after it imploded in late 2019 following an ill-fated attempt at an IPO. 

Mathrani brings several decades of real estate experience to the CEO role, which he assumed on Feb. 18. He most recently served as CEO of Brookfield Properties Retail Group and Vice Chairman of Brookfield Properties. In the wake of his hire, WeWork has made a slew of moves to shore up its executive team, tapping Shyam Gidumal for the role of COO and Kimberly Ross as CFO. 

Going forward, the company is expected to make profitability a priority and concentrate on the office-space segment of its business. 

More executives on the move...

• Frances Allen is now CEO, Checker's/Rally's.
• Meir Amiel is now EVP and Chief Product Officer, MuleSoft LLC.
• Chau Banks is now Chief Technology and Digital Officer, Revlon, Inc.
• William Berman is now Interim Executive Chairman and CEO, Pendragon PLC.
• Dwayne Black is now SVP and COO, Shutterfly, Inc.
• Marty Boos is now CIO, StubHub, Inc.
• Sylvia Burns is now CIO and Chief Privacy Officer, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
• Sukhinder Cassidy is now SVP and President, StubHub, Inc.
• Jared Chupaila is now CEO, Brookfield Properties Retail Inc., Brookfield Asset Management Inc.
• Christopher Drumgoole is now EVP and CIO, DXC Technology.
• Clay Dunn is now President, North America, Huhtamaki Group.
• George Felix is now CMO, Pizza Hut US, Pizza Hut, LLC.
• Joseph Ferraro is now Interim CEO, Avis Budget Group Inc.
• Paul Fipps is now Chief Experience Officer, Under Armour Inc.
• Gregory Foran is now CEO, Air New Zealand Limited.
• Daron Fowlks is now VP, Global Customer Experience, StubHub, Inc.
• Daniel Frumkin is now CEO, Metro Bank PLC.
• Sean Goodman is now CFO, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.
• Jeffrey Gordon is now Chairman, Vector Solutions.
• Daniel Gurrola is now SVP, Strategy and Wholesale, Verizon Consumer Group.
• Joseph Hassett is now SVP, Industrial and Consumer Group, Analog Devices, Inc.
• James Hilt is now President, Shutterfly Consumer, Shutterfly, Inc.
• Edward Ho is now EVP and General Manager, Americas, DXC Technology.
• James Holthouser is now CEO, FOCUS Brands.
• Kevin Iaquinto is now EVP and CMO, Blue Yonder, Inc.
• Graeme Jack is now VP, Digital, Analytics and Global Consumer Care, Johnson & Johnson.
• Gregory Johnson is now Chairman, Franklin Resources, Inc.
• Jennifer Johnson is now President and CEO, Franklin Resources, Inc.
• Jeffrey Julien is now EVP, Finance, Raymond James Financial Inc.
• Dave Justice is now Chief Revenue Officer, PagerDuty, Inc.
• Arun Kundu is now Former Global VP and Executive Director, Worldwide Edge Technology & Services, Enterprise Solutions, Verizon Business Group.
• Bernard Looney is now Group CEO, BP Global.
• Desikan Madhavanur is now EVP and Chief Development Officer, Blue Yonder, Inc
• Brian McGee is now EVP, COO and CFO, GoPro, Inc.
• Donna Morris is now EVP and Chief People Officer, Walmart Inc.
• Gregory Mrva is now CFO, StubHub, Inc.
• Gregory Murphy is now Executive Chairman, Selective Insurance Group, Inc.
• Pam Murphy is now CEO, Imperva, Inc.
• David Neu is now CEO, Ananda Health.
• William O'Hern is now EVP and Global Chief Security Officer, AT&T Inc.
• John O'Malley is now CEO, Vericast.
• Bill Owen is now SVP and General Manager, Blue Yonder, Inc.
• Abhay Parasnis is now CTO and EVP, Strategy and Growth, Adobe Systems Inc.
• Bill Patterson is now EVP and General Manager, CRM Applications, Salesforce.com Inc.
• Denise Paulonis is now CFO, Sprouts Farmers Market Inc.
• Matthew Quale is now President, Bask Bank, Texas Capital Bank, N.A.
• David Queller is now President, Express Scripts Holding Company.
• Roger Rawlins is now CEO and Interim President, Designer Brands Inc.
• Girish Rishi is now CEO, Blue Yonder, Inc.
• Rob Rosenthal is now Chief Revenue Officer, BloomReach Inc.
• Gregg Scarlett is now EVP and COO, Casual Dining Restaurants, Bloomin' Brands, Inc.
• James Scholefield is now Chief Information and Digital Officer, Marriott International Inc.
• Amy Schwetz is now SVP and CFO, Flowserve Corporation.
• Dan Singleton is now Senior Advisor to the CEO, Vericast.
• James Smith, Jr. is now EVP, Digital Transformation and Customer Advocacy, DXC Technology.
• William Staples is now Chief Product Officer, New Relic, Inc.
• John Townsend is now CFO, Verizon Business Group.
• Charles Tyson is now Interim President, Principal Executive Officer and Chief Customer Experience Officer, Lumber Liquidators, Inc.
• Zoey Walters is now VP, Global Sales Operations and Finance, Blue Yonder, Inc.
• Dorien Weijts is now SVP and CIO, Blue Yonder, Inc.
• Todd Werpy is now SVP and Chief Science Officer, Archer Daniels Midland Company.
• Andrew Wilson is now Corporate VP, Core Services Engineering and Chief Digital Officer, Microsoft Corporation.
• David Wyshner is now CFO, XPO Logistics, Inc.

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