When David Devonshire was the CFO at Ingersoll-Rand Co. in the late 1990s, he was a key participant in the manufacturing company's effort to restructure its business so it would be less cyclical. When he was at Owens Corning, he had to deal with a slew of asbestos-related lawsuits.
As the new CFO of wireless giant Motorola Inc., the 56-year-old Devonshire also has his work cut out for him: Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola has been buffeted by the tech-sector implosion, posting a $3.9 billion loss in 2001–its first in 71 years. On top of that, the company has lost its dominance in the cellular-phone market to Nokia Corp., thanks to a series of missteps in its phone product lineup.
Though the company doesn't see itself returning to profitability until 2003, the good news is that Motorola has introduced a new line of cell phones that have received kudos from industry analysts. And the company's balance sheet, though languishing, is in decent shape. "By and large, their financial house is in order," says Todd Bernier, a stock analyst with Morningstar Inc. Motorola has replaced a lot of its short-term debt with longer maturities and has cut back on expenses by paring employees, Bernier says. "They've done a good job of managing their business during a sales slowdown." Now what Motorola needs, Bernier says, are "hot products" and a better economy.
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So perhaps the biggest challenge facing Devonshire, who is putting off press interviews until he has been on the job for a while, is helping the company find a winning strategy. For this, Wall Street seems confident Devonshire, now in his third CFO slot for a large corporation, will be a plus. And after all, Wall Street has had considerable exposure to him. "If Motorola's on fire, [Devonshire's] a good one to put it out," says Barry Bannister, an analyst at Legg Mason Wood Walker. He sees a parallel between Motorola and Ingersoll-Rand in that the latter company also was "trying to transform itself during a global manufacturing recession." Bill Brenizer, a managing director and head of UBS Warburg's U.S. capital goods investment banking group, agrees describing Devonshire as bringing "an unusually broad set of skills to a CFO job."
Devonshire succeeds Carl Koenemann, who is retiring from Motorola after 32 years with the company, the last 11 as its CFO. Most recently, Devonshire was senior adviser at Devon Partners, an investment banking firm in New York. From 1998 to January of this year, he served as executive vice president and CFO of $9.7 billion Ingersoll-Rand. From 1993 to 1998, Devonshire was CFO of $4.8 billion Owens Corning, and in the early 1990s he was controller and vice president of finance at Honeywell.
"You look at his resume and the companies he's been involved with," says Jeffrey Moslow, a managing director of investment banking at Goldman Sachs Group, who worked with Devonshire on Ingersoll-Rand's $1.8 billion acquisition of Hussman International Inc. in 2000. "There aren't too many CFOs who have the breadth of experience and have done the number of transactions he's done."
Philip Morris Cos. Inc. appointed Dinyar Devitre as CFO and senior vice president, replacing Louis Camilleri, who has been named president and CEO of the $89.9 billion tobacco company. Devitre, 54, rejoins Philip Morris after a stint with Citigroup Inc. as group head of consumer banking for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Previously he had spent 27 years with Phillip Morris in various positions, including leading its tobacco business in Japan.
Robert Kelly was named CFO and executive vice president of $7.6 billion Calpine Corp., a power company based in San Jose, Calif. Kelly, 44, succeeds Ann Curtis, who was promoted to vice chairman. Kelly, who joined Calpine in 1991 as finance manager, had served as president of Calpine Finance Co. since July 2001.
Park Place Entertainment Corp. hired Harry Hagerty as CFO. Hagerty, 41, most recently was CFO and COO of Massachusetts-based Akula Software Inc. as well as president of Venator Corporate Advisors. Previously, he spent 17 years as an investment banker, including five years as head of Deutsche Morgan Grenfell's gaming-and-lodging group. Hagerty replaces Scott LaPorta, who left Park Place, a $4.6 billion casino company, in January.
Kraft Foods Inc., the $33.8 billion food company located in Northfield, Ill., named David Brearton senior vice president of finance for its international division. Brearton, 41, had been vice president of finance for Kraft's operations in the European Union. He replaces Mike Kinney, who left the company.
Robert Dellinger was named executive vice president of finance for $26 billion Sprint Corp., the Westwood, Ks.-based phone company. Dellinger is expected to be named Sprint's CFO in June when current CFO and executive vice president Arthur Krause has said he will resign. Krause has been Sprint's CFO since 1988. Dellinger, 41, joins Sprint from General Electric Co., where he was president and CEO of GE Frankona Re and of GE's Property & Casualty Reinsurance business in Europe and Asia, and earlier served as CFO for a few different GE businesses.
Neal Cohen was named CFO and executive vice president of finance for $8.3 billion U.S. Airways Group Inc. He replaces Thomas Mutryn, who is leaving the Arlington, Va.-based company. Cohen, 41, most recently was CFO and executive vice president of Conseco Finance Corp. and previously served in financial roles at a number of companies, including nine years at Northwest Airlines.
Providian Financial Corp., the $5.5 billion San Francisco credit card company that was hit with rising defaults by cardholders last year when the economy slowed, appointed Anthony Vuoto as its CFO. He succeeds David Petrini, the interim CFO since Jim Rowe resigned in February. Vuoto, 50, joins Providian from Bank One Corp., where he was president and COO of its First USA Bank unit.
Stephen McKeon was named senior vice president of finance and legal for both $3.4 billion Puget Energy, and its utility subsidiary, Puget Sound Energy. The Bellevue, Wash.-based company said McKeon is taking on the responsibilities of CFO. He succeeds Richard Hawley, who had served as CFO since February 1998. McKeon, 55, had been Puget Energy's general counsel.
CSX Corp., the $8.1 billion freight railroad based in Richmond, Va., promoted Carolyn Sizemore to controller and vice president. She succeeds James Ross, who is retiring. Sizemore has been assistance controller since 2001, after joining CSX in 1989 as an accountant.
Elizabeth Acton was named CFO and executive vice president of Comerica Inc., a $4 billion bank based in Detroit. Acton succeeds Roger Babb, who was named Comerica's president and CEO in January. Acton, 50, had worked at Ford Motor Co. since 1983 and most recently was its treasurer. Ford has named Malcolm Macdonald, currently vice president for finance and treasury matters, as interim treasurer.
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