Executives on the Move: Citigroup leans in, Workday rises and shines

Even with the coronavirus pandemic looming large, the summer of 2020 will likely go down as the summer of tech with the stock of Apple, Amazon and other juggernauts surging to all-time highs. 

All that technological growth has created many new opportunities for C-suite executives. Here are some of the interesting moves we’ve seen this month: 

Citigroup names first female CEO

With growing emphasis on digital channels, change is coming for retail banking. For financial conglomerate Citigroup, the future is female. The company announced on Sept. 10 that Jane Fraser, president and CEO of Global Consumer Banking, will replace the retiring Michael Corbat as CEO. 

Fraser, who will assume the role in February 2021, will be the first woman to serve as chief executive for a major American bank. She has been with Citigroup since 2004 and was previously a partner at McKinsey & Company and an analyst at Goldman Sachs. In her most recent role, Fraser managed a diverse array of financial products across 19 countries.

Her elevation comes at an important and uncertain time in finance, as banks adapt to the world of zero interest rates and prepare for a possible onslaught of defaults. Citigroup has also been weathering a PR storm related to a nearly $900 million payment it mistakenly sent to creditors of cosmetics company Revlon. 

Fraser may be uniquely suited to the task at hand: She’s known as an advocate for fearless leadership and has been featured in Fortune magazine’s “Most Powerful Women in Business” list. [Note: Women CEOs of the Fortune 500 is an area Boardroom Insiders tracks closely. Check our our recent analysis]

TikTok CEO steps down 

It’s safe to say Kevin Mayer got more than he bargained for. 

When the longtime Disney executive took over as TikTok CEO on June 1, he was charged with ironing out tensions between its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, and U.S. regulators. His mission got off to a rocky start within weeks when TikTok users reportedly embarked on a campaign to artificially inflate the number of people registered to attend a President Trump rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, leading to lackluster attendance. 

Since then, the president has sparred with the company and threatened to ban the app, unless Bytedance would divest its stake in Tiktok’s U.S. operations. Since then, potential buyers have emerged, from Oracle to Microsoft and Walmart. 

These discussions had profound implications on Mayer, who also served as COO of ByteDance, a company with a global presence. In light of this, he resigned on Aug. 27, and former YouTube executive Vanessa Pappas assumed the interim role. In a recent profile in Marie Claire, she expressed confidence in the future of TikTok:  “I continue to see us lean in and create this amazing product that is providing our users with the tools of expression that let them continue to do what they do,” she says. “We want our community to be a part of [our] journey, and I think that’ll help us navigate to the next level.”

Workday success a team effort

The remote workforce has been a tailwind for many software companies, and Workday is no exception. Its human capital and finance management software has proven especially useful for the stay-at-home economy. 

In its late August earnings call, Workday announced revenue and earnings beat expectations and lifted its FY 2021 forecast for subscription revenue to more than $3.7 billion. Workday’s stock rallied to all-time highs shortly thereafter.

The company is also shuffling its own human capital around. Co-President Chano Fernandez was promoted to co-CEO to serve alongside co-founder Aneel Bhusri. The co-CEO role is anticipated to help both CEOs lean into their strengths with Bhusri focusing more on product and strategy. Fernandez is expected to concentrate on sales and marketing. Fernandez has been with the company since 2014 and has prior experience at SAP.

More executives on the move...

• Stuart Aitken is now Chief Merchandising Officer, Kroger Company.
• Kevin Baird is now COO, Tenneco Inc.
• William Bullock is now EVP and CFO, ConocoPhillips Company.
• Gentry Brann is now SVP, People, Culture and Communications, McDermott International Inc.
• Steven Bratspies is now CEO, Hanesbrands Inc.
• Lyn Campbell is now EVP, Customer Success and Information Technology, Proofpoint Inc.
• Stephen Carlisle is now EVP and President, North America, General Motors Company.
• Rajkumar Chandrasekar is now COO, Consilio LLC.
• Laura Coffey is now EVP and CFO, Vitamin Shoppe, Inc.
• Les Copeland is now CIO, Global Digital EV Commerce, General Motors Company.
• Christopher Corrado is now CEO, Sitehands, Inc.
• Michael D'Ambrose is now EVP, Human Resources, Boeing Company.
• Rola Dagher is now Global Channel Chief, Dell Technologies Inc.
• James Dinkins is now SVP and Senior Advisor, Coca-Cola Company.
• Jayme Fishman is now EVP, Corporate Development, Avalara, Inc.
• Benoit Foubert is now VP, Technology Digital Operations Solutions, Schlumberger Ltd.
• Sarah Glickman is now CFO, Criteo SA.
• Alexander Gourlay is now Co-COO, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.
• Randy Guard is now CMO, Spreedly, Inc.
• William Hornbuckle IV is now CEO, MGM Resorts International.
• Louis Hunsucker is now SVP and Lead, AMS Segment, AgileThought.
• Mark Irwin is now CEO, United Kingdom and Europe, Serco Group Pty Ltd.
• Kevin Jacobs is now EVP, CFO and President, Global Development, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.
• Anuj Kapur is now EVP, Corporate Development and Strategy, SAP SE. 
• Dr. Ann Kelleher is now Head, Technology Development, Intel Corporation.
• Scott Kirby is now CEO, United Airlines, Inc.
• Munish Kumar is now CIO and Head, Wealth and Investment Management Technology, Wells Fargo & Company.
• Peter Kummer is now Head, Infrastructure, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen SBB.
• Olivier Leonetti is now EVP and CFO – Elect, Johnson Controls International plc.
• Wendy Livingston is now VP, Corporate Human Resources, Boeing Company.
• Darcy Mackay is now Group President, Global Workplace Solutions Enterprise Accounts, Central Division, CBRE Group, Inc.
• Stephen McMillan is now President and CEO, Teradata Corporation.
• Stephanie Meltzer-Paul is now SVP, Digital Marketing, Dunkin' US, Dunkin' Brands, Inc.
• Barbara Messing is now Chief Marketing and Employee Experience Officer, Roblox Corporation.
• Janet Napolitano is now Professor, Public Policy, Richard & Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley.
• Edward Nelson is now CEO, Whataburger Restaurants, LP.
• Craig Orgeron is now Executive Government Advisor, Amazon Web Services, Inc.
• Frédéric Perron is now President, Cable Division, Cogeco Connexion Inc.
• Scott Price is now President, International, United Parcel Service, Inc.
• Jaime Ramirez is now EVP and President, Global Tools and Storage, Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.
• Gil Salazar is now SVP, Information Technology, Stater Bros. Markets.
• Anthony Scaglione is now EVP and CFO, Office Depot, Inc.
• Vincent van Schaik is now Special Advisor of Global Functions and Information Risk, Royal Dutch Shell plc.
• Richard Schmidt is now Consultant, Freudenberg Oil & Gas Technologies, Freudenberg & Co. KG.
• Sovan Shatpathy is now SVP and CTO, Navy Federal Credit Union.
• Jan Siegmund is now CFO, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation.
• Antonio Simoes is now Regional Head, Europe, Banco Santander, S.A.
• Robynne Sisco is now President and CFO, Workday, Inc.
• Jure Sola is now Chairman and CEO, Sanmina Corporation.
• Timothy Stall is now VP, Technology Corporate Services, Lowe's Companies, Inc.
• John Standley is now President, Walgreens Company.
• Robert Steer is now President, CEO and CFO, Seaboard Corporation.
• Jennifer Tippin is now Chief Transformation Officer, NatWest Group plc.
• Hsiao Wang is now EVP and CIO, Michaels Companies, Inc.
• Jennifer Weber is now Chief Human Resources Officer, Archer Daniels Midland Company.
• Judy Zagorski is now EVP, Church & Dwight Co., Inc.

Each executive featured here has an in-depth profile available in the Boardroom Insiders platform. Not a customer? Click here to learn more.