Who is Christine McCarthy? Disney CFO reportedly behind axing of former CEO Bob Chapek
BURBANK, CALIFORNIA: Several top Disney employees complained that ex-CEO Bob Chapek was ruining the company, which led to his dismissal, according to people with knowledge of the situation. They claimed that many people believed Chapek, 62, was unqualified for the position and that Disney's Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy was among those to voice these concerns.
The company's board of directors responded quickly to the accusations, contacting Bob Iger, 71, Chapek's predecessor and former mentor, and asking him to come out of retirement recently to take over for a man he had earlier named as his successor, CNBC reported. According to sources, Chapek was "blindsided" by the change, which resulted in the early termination of his 11-month term as head executive after a string of mistakes and public disputes severely damaged the company's stock prices. In a statement released Sunday night, November 20, officials confirmed the move but did not give Chapek's firing a particular justification.
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Daily Mail reported that the revelation of the senior leadership's displeasure with the Chapek fit with earlier allegations of staff members complaining that he had mismanaged the business since taking the job in February. Since then, Disney share prices have dropped precipitously, by over 40% so far this year. These losses were made worse by a more than $10B pandemic-related shortfall. As investor optimism mounted that Iger's return would herald a more stable period for the scandal-plagued company, Disney shares shot up by 6% by the bell on Monday, November 21.
Who is Christine McCarthy?
The Walt Disney Company's Senior Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, Christine M McCarthy, is in charge of the company's global finance department. McCarthy held the positions of executive vice-president, corporate real estate, alliances and treasurer at The Walt Disney Company before taking over as CFO in 2015. She served as Imperial Bancorp's executive vice-president and chief financial officer from 1997 to 2000 before joining Disney. From 1981 until 1996, she served in a variety of finance and planning roles at First Interstate Bancorp before being chosen as executive vice-president of finance in 1993.
McCarthy has won various honors and has been included on several lists, including the Top 100 Irish American Business Leaders, Treasury & Risk's '100 Most Influential People in Finance', and Business Insider's 'The 15 Most Influential Women in Finance'. She won the Adam Smith 'Woman of the Year' award from Treasury Today in 2015. She was given the Los Angeles Business Journal's 'Executive of the Year' award in 2016 and recognized as one of the 'Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Entertainment' by the Entertainment Diversity Council.