The start of the year — and a new decade — has brought big changes in C-Suites across the country, as well as new opportunities for executives looking to make their marks across a variety of companies. The new big bank on the block is building out its leadership team. Yum! Brands is adding a burger joint to its family of fast food offerings. And Google is making over its shopping platform, with help from the outside.
Here are some of the latest moves that have taken shape since the ball dropped.
The new bank on the block
The $30 billion merger of SunTrust and BB&T, finalized at the end of 2019 new institution, has created a new institution — one that will go by the almost universally panned name of Truist Financial Corporation. Truist is now populating its executive ranks with a combination of key players from both SunTrust and BB&T. BB&T veteran Kelly King, for instance, has been named CEO, while former SunTrust executive Susan Johnson is taking over as Chief Marketing Officer of Truist.
Speaking of marketing, those efforts are expected to begin in earnest with the 2020 Super Bowl. Ahead of that, Truist has revealed a new logo and branding that is meant to highlight the merged bank’s focus on technology, which has also been reflected in the slew of executives named to key technology roles within the company. Steve Scott, for instance, will serve as EVP and Chief Information Security Officer. Dandridge Massey will be Truist’s EVP of Enterprise Technology Strategic Services, and Jeremy Davis is the bank’s Technology Division Manager for Retail Banking.
Yum! Brands starts 2020 with a sizzle
Fast food will look a lot different in 2020.
The last few months have been a tumultuous time for the industry. McDonald’s fired its CEO following revelations of an in-house romance. Subway is pinning its hopes on the former CEO of Burger King to help slow down its store closures.
Meanwhile, Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, has flown under the radar. When CEO Greg Creed decided to retire, the company promoted from within, tapping David Gibbs, a Yum! Brands lifer, to replace him.
Gibbs, the former president and COO, took the reins on Jan. 1. The company then wasted no time in announcing it was getting a burger joint of its own, acquiring Habit Restaurants for $375 million. The deal is expected to close in Q2.
Google hires payment guru with readymade success
Google has been doing some shopping of its own.
Historically, the search engine has been a place where customers frequently began their shopping experience. As time goes on, more are skipping that step and navigating directly to retailers like Amazon.
To combat that and remain viable, Google is overhauling its shopping platform, and it has hired a PayPal leader to lead that charge.
Bill Ready, most recently the executive vice president and COO at PayPal, is now president of commerce at Google. Ready is the former CEO of payment platforms Braintree and Venmo.
More executives on the move…
- Bharat Amin is now EVP and CIO, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc.
- Prama Bhatt is now Chief Digital Officer, Ulta Beauty, Inc.
- Etienne Bouas-Laurent is now CFO, AXA Group.
- Conny Braams is now Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, Unilever NV.
- Vittorio Cretella is now CIO, Procter & Gamble Company.
- William Flynn is now Chairman, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc.
- Sean Goodman is now EVP, Finance, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.
- Peter Griffith is now CFO, Amgen Inc.
- Jennifer Hamann is now EVP and CFO, Union Pacific Corporation.
- Mike Henry is now CEO, BHP Group.
- David Hoffmann is now CEO, Dunkin' Brands, Inc.
- Barry Hytinen is now EVP and CFO, Iron Mountain Incorporated.
- Michael Hsu is now Chairman and CEO, Kimberly-Clark Corporation.
- David Kline is now Chief Technology Officer, News Corporation.
- Kristin Lemkau is now CEO, Wealth Management, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
- Minsok Pak is now EVP and Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, Mondelez International, Inc.
- Gary Patton is now Corporate VP and General Manager, Design Enablement, Intel Corporation.
- Kristin Peck is now CEO, Zoetis.
- Leon Topalian is now CEO, Nucor Corporation.
- Michael Waddell is now CEO, Robert Half International Inc.
Share Your Thoughts