Christine McCarthy Becomes Disney’s New CFO
According to an announcement by Robert Iger, the chief executive officer of Walt Disney, Christine M. McCarthy becomes the second woman to occupy a top executive post at Disney as the major entertainment firm has appointed her as its new chief financial officer. The company has also appointed Kevin Mayer as its chief strategy officer.
The previous chief financial officer was Jay Rasulo, who had announced his desire of leaving Disney earlier this June.
In May, Leslie Ferraro was promoted to the post of consumer products head, a unit that the company merged with its interactive arm, thus putting a couple of executives, including Ferraro in charge of a wide range of Disney services and products.
Iger said in a press statement:
Christine has done an incredible job as Disney’s treasurer over the past 15 years, and her strong leadership and keen financial acumen make her an ideal chief financial officer. She is highly respected in the finance sector, and in this new role she will have even more impact on creating value for Disney shareholders.
Disney has signed an employment contract that will remain valid for four years with McCarthy. According to this contract, McCarthy will draw $1.25 million as base salary and will get an opportunity to earn bonuses double the base salary. In addition, she stands to receive other benefits, such as stock awards, that will further fatten her compensation. Previous CFO Rasulo had received $16.2 million as compensation, of which $1.75 million was his base salary.
Expressing his appreciation of Mayer’s previous achievements in business development and corporate strategy when Disney was at its height, Iger said that Mayer had played an important role when Disney acquired valuable subsidiaries such as Marvel, Pixar, and Lucasfilm.
Mayer will have to report jointly to Tom Staggs, who was recently promoted to the post of chief operating officer, and Iger, while McCarthy will have to report to Iger alone. McCarthy has stated that she feels
humbled and honored to be entrusted with the role of CFO of this incredibly dynamic company.
McCarthy has ample experience as she has been associated with alliances, treasuries, and corporate real estate. Her team was responsible for capital markets, corporate finance, international treasury, financial risk, risk management, credit, and investment.
As the new chief strategy officer of Walt Disney, Mayer will supervise business development and strategy, innovation, acquisitions, brand, enterprise IT, global corporate alliances, and franchise management.
