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Huawei accuses US Justice Department of 'political persecution'
One day after the US Justice Department announced 16 new charges against Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer has responded. In a lengthy statement, the company defends its track record, and accuses the US government of "using the strength of an entire nation to come after a private company."
Justice Department charges Huawei with stealing trade secrets, again
The US Justice Department has charged Huawei and two US subsidiaries with racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to steal trade secrets. A 16-count superseding indictment, filed yesterday in Brooklyn, New York, adds to previous US charges filed against Huawei last January. The indictment names several defendants, including Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Wanzhou Meng, who is already facing fraud accusations and could serve years in prison.
Netflix reportedly poaches Activision executive to fill CFO role
After months of searching, Netflix appears to have a replacement for outgoing chief financial officer David Wells... and it's creating corporate drama in the process. Reuters and Wall Street Journal sources say Netflix is close to naming Activision Blizzard CFO Spencer Neumann as its pick, with a start date sometime in early 2019. There's only one problem: his contract at Activision hasn't expired yet, and his soon-to-be-former employer is clearly angry about it.
Huawei CFO freed on bail ahead of extradition
Tensions remain high over the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou for alleged Iran sanction violations, but Canada just offered a tiny olive branch. A British Columbia Supreme Court justice has granted Meng bail after her attorney and family made a case for her conditional release. She's paying $10 million CAD ($7 million of it in cash) and must stay in the province, report to a supervisor, agree to around-the-clock surveillance, pay for security, live in a Vancouver area house owned by her husband (Liu Xiaozong) and remain home between 11PM and 6AM.
Uber fills CFO position that has been vacant for three years
Uber has selected a new CFO, finally filling a role that has been vacant since 2015. The company has hired Nelson Chai for the position, a former Merrill Lynch CFO and most recently the CEO of insurance firm The Warranty Group. "I'm incredibly excited to bring on someone as experienced and thoughtful as Nelson," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement. "He will be a great partner for me and the entire management team as we move towards becoming a public company."
Netflix’s CFO for the last eight years is stepping down
Netflix is undergoing some changes at the top of the company, as Chief Financial Officer David Wells plans to leave after helping to find his successor. He's held the role since 2010 and has been with Netflix since 2004. Wells plans to focus on philanthropy, though says he isn't entirely sure what his future holds. The timing of his departure is somewhat notable, as Netflix fell shy of its subscriber target last quarter.
Blue Apron co-founder steps down as CEO
Less than a month after an earnings report indicated customers dropped six percent from last year, Blue Apron has a new CEO, as co-founder Matt Salzberg steps down from his role as president and CEO. Former CFO Brad Dickerson will now fill both of those roles and join the company's board of directors where Salzberg will remain as chairman. Blue Apron just completed its initial public offering in June, but its stock price has already dropped from $10 to around $3 and last month it laid off six percent of its employees. The five-year-old company is facing more competition from others in the space like HelloFresh and Plated, while also being squeezed by meal kits from companies like Amazon (which just bought Whole Foods) and Kroger.
Twitter CFO hints at big changes to how your timeline works
Twitter has already started to look more like Facebook, and it might soon start acting more like it too. You see, company CFO Anthony Noto hinted yesterday that the reverse-chronological firehose of tweets that some users hold so dear may give way to a more curated collection of messages cast into the digital ether. To hear him tell it, the Twitter experience as we know it "isn't the most relevant" to the people who actually use the service (a notion that some people would definitely disagree with). That tidbit was lodged inside a broader conversation (which the Wall Street Journal captured) about improving Twitter's search functionality -- Noto pointed out the need for "an algorithm that delivers the depth and breadth of the content we have on a specific topic and then eventually as it relates to people." Those last few words seem crucial -- it sounds like he wants the Twitter experience to become one where content is tailored and presented differently depending on how relevant it is to the user. In the end, it might wind up getting Twitter a bunch of new users (which is exactly what all those antsy shareholders want to see), but would it really be worth alienating the service's hardcore fans?
Sony's finance chief explains why it's been hemorrhaging cash
Further heavy losses for Sony: electronics sales (minus phones and gaming) stand at half of the peak seven years. The company's latest financial report is grim reading for its investors -- and its fans. So what happened, Sony? It's new CFO Kenichiro Yoshida gave a starkly honest assessment of his employer's missteps at a conference late on Wednesday. "2014 is the year to finish off our restructuring measures." However, it's not the first time a Sony exec has mentioned rejigging the entire business and that's been one many issues. Changes apparently never cut deep enough. The company was also sluggish to adjust to trends, resisted major changes, had hulking overhead costs and ever-continuing TV troubles --these were all part of the problem.
HTC Asia CEO Lennard Hoornik is the latest reported exec departure (update: Head of Global Digital Service as well)
Turbulent times at HTC, it seems. Earlier today, we reported a pair of high-profile exits from the company -- one rumored and one confirmed -- and now we're looking at another. According to CNET, the CEO of HTC Asia Lennard Hoornik has also abandoned his post, with regional CFO Chia-Lin Chang taking the reins until a formal replacement is named. Hoornik, who joined HTC from Sony Ericsson, allegedly left the Taiwanese handset maker after a two-month period of absence. Did he jump, or was he pushed? And, are these exec departures linked in any way or mere coincidence? We've reached out to HTC for confirmation and comment, so let's hope there's someone still working there to answer us. Update: We have received the following confirmation from HTC: "HTC can confirm that Lennard Hoornik has left HTC to pursue other interests. We appreciate his contributions to our South Asia efforts over the past year and wish him all the best. HTC's CFO, Chialin Chang will provide interim leadership in this strategic region while we work to find a permanent solution." Update 2: According to a source of ours, Head of Global Digital Service Elizabeth Griffin will also be leaving HTC later this week to join Nintendo.
Microsoft's Amy Hood named CFO as Peter Klein departs
If you'll recall, Microsoft revealed as a footnote to its Q3 2013 earnings report that then-CFO Peter Klein would be stepping down. Today, we're learning a bit more about the transition. Starting right now (well, a few minutes ago), corporate vice president Amy Hood has been moved up to chief financial officer, and while Klein is set to remain onboard through June, Hood is grabbing the title right away. Prior to this role, Hood served as CFO for Microsoft's Business Division, and has been with the company for just over a decade. Asked if she had any immediate plans, she softly nodded and whispered: "I'm bringing Clippy back." Just kidding. But that would've been awesome.
Microsoft posts Q3 2013 earnings, generates $6.06 billion in profit as its CFO steps down
Microsoft's fiscal third quarter earnings (the calendar's first) can reflect the post-holiday lull, and there's a certain truth to that for Q3 2013: the company is reporting $20.49 billion in revenue, lower than what it saw during the holidays, and an equally soft $6.06 billion in profit that dipped below both the previous quarter and the same period last year. That said, any potential slowdown in PC sales isn't clearly manifested here. Possibly owing to the afterglow of the Windows 8 launch, the Windows Division's revenue of $5.7 billion is a sharp increase from the $4.62 billion of a year ago, and it's dampened mostly by having to defer $1.09 billion of that revenue for those who took advantage of Windows 8 upgrade deals. The company also posted healthy year-over-year revenue gains for its Entertainment and Devices Division (to $2.53 billion) and Online Services Division (to $832 million), although the Business group saw a relatively modest 8-point jump to $6.32 billion despite the launches of Office 2013 and Office 365. As part of the results, CFO Peter Klein has given advance notice that he's leaving Microsoft at the end of the company's fiscal year, which ends in June. Neither the company nor Klein has explained the departure, but it's characterized as a friendly one, rather than the abrupt exit we saw the last time around.
Google CFO says the Motorola pipeline doesn't 'wow,' hasn't heard of the Osborne Effect
Common wisdom would suggest that executives talk up their existing device lines to keep customers buying until the next generation is ready. Leave it to Google CFO Patrick Pichette to think outside the box, if not necessarily for the better. He told guests at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference that the current roster, while good, doesn't "'wow' by Google standards" -- it reflects the 18-month device pipeline that fell in Google's lap when it acquired Motorola last year. As such, we won't see the full fruits of collaboration until Google has owned Motorola for long enough to put its own spin on products. While the remarks stoke the fires of anticipation for any future flagships, they may have unintentionally produced an Osborne Effect: however advanced Motorola's phones will be in the near term, customers may still have the nagging suspicion that something better is just around the corner.
RadioShack parts company with CEO James F. Gooch in management shakeup
RadioShack's board of directors have asked current CEO James F. Gooch to step down from his position, effective immediately. While the management team doesn't have a replacement in mind, current CFO Dorvin Lively will assume control of the retailer while a recruitment agency begins headhunting. Neither party offered any reasons for the announcement, but the wording of the release (below) did bring to mind the phrase "bloodless coup" for some reason.
Verizon CFO buries his head in the sand, claims unlimited data is 'going by the wayside'
"La la la la. I can't hear you." Verizon's CFO, Fran Shammo, might've just as well made those comments with his hands firmly cupped over his ears, as the firm's chief number cruncher told attendees at today's Goldman Sachs investor conference, "Unlimited is just a word, it doesn't really mean anything." While Sprint and T-Mobile would certainly take issue with that statement, Shammo then dug the hole deeper by saying, "That whole unlimited thing, I think, is going by the wayside." These comments were made in the context of Shammo playing up the carrier's shared data plans, wherein he explained his belief that consumers "think they consume a lot more data than they really do." Shammo also revealed that Verizon has converted more subscribers and devices over to the new scheme than it'd initially anticipated. Naturally, change within any industry takes time, but now that Sprint is in a position to offer unlimited data at a meaningful speed and T-Mobile has climbed aboard the bandwagon, Verizon may have to change its tune if a significant number of consumers decide that unlimited isn't dead after all. You can view the entire transcript at the source link below, but consider this: would you take unlimited plans into consideration when shopping between carriers, or is Mr. Shammo right that consumers really don't use that much data? Give us your thoughts in the comments below.
AMD CFO Thomas Seifert calls it quits, Devinder Kumar takes his place on an interim basis
Advanced Micro Devices' Senior VP and Chief Financial Officer, Thomas Seifert, has decided to leave AMD three short years after joining the company. As you may recall, Seifert briefly took the reigns of AMD as interim CEO in early 2011, until the firm found a permanent replacement in Rory Read later that year. No word on why Seifert has decided to depart the chip maker -- other than "to pursue other opportunities" -- but we do know that Devinder Kumar, AMD's current Senior VP and corporate controller will replace him on an interim basis. The full announcement awaits in the PR after the break.
EA gets a new CFO
Electronic Arts announced today that Blake Jorgensen will be the company's new chief financial officer, following the sudden departure of Eric Brown earlier this year. Jorgensen was formerly the CFO of Levi Strauss & Co. and Yahoo!."His deep understanding of finance and experience in online commerce and entertainment will be instrumental to EA's transformation into digital distribution of game content and services," said EA CEO John Riccitiello about Jorgensen. "Beyond his experience and leadership profile, we think Blake is a great cultural fit for EA and the game industry."The appointment comes less than a week after the EA board stated it had a "very high level of confidence in Riccitiello." EA will announce its first quarter earnings later today.
HTC moves aside CFO who oversaw $300 million Beats Audio deal (update)
HTC's CFO Winston Yung has been shunted into a 'corporate development' role after barely a year on the job. He orchestrated some pretty controversial deals during his tenure, including the $300 million purchase of the Beats Audio brand from Dr. Dre -- an acquisition that has so far shown little value except as a marketing device. Yung also occupied the hot seat while HTC's balance sheet suddenly flipped from brilliant to bad and then worse, and was outspoken in his views of what went wrong. HTC has provided no reason for the job shift, leaving analysts to guess at how the company's strategy will change to capitalize on its new One smartphones and battle against Sammy's imminent contender. The new CFO is Chia-Lin Chang, a former Goldman Sachs partner and Motorola engineer who hopefully knows how to handle pressure. Update: HTC's own CEO Peter Chou has taken time to respond to analyst reports. His quote follows: On Monday, HTC announced the appointment of Chia-Lin Chang as Chief Financial Officer withWinston Yung, his predecessor, transitioning to a corporate development role. "Media speculation that ties this announcement to HTC's partnership and investment in Beats By Dre is categorically inaccurate," said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation. "HTC and Beats have made impressive progress in innovation and brand awareness and the integration of the Beats brand and technology in the new HTC One series is a clear indication of our commitment to this partnership."
Apple to announce plans for its $100 billion cash reserves tomorrow morning
A slew of successful, high margin products have left Apple sitting on an almost unimaginable amount of money -- $97 billion as of its last earnings report -- and led to the natural question of just what to do with it. According to a press release just issued, we'll all find out about "the outcome of the Company's discussions" tomorrow on a conference call with CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer at 9AM ET. What does $100 billion or so of iMac, Macbook, iPhone and iPad money buy? Speculation has already included dividends for investors, a spending spree of acquisitions or even a dip into philanthropy. We'd have blown the entire bundle on the largest indoor laser tag facility ever built long ago, so this time we'll leave the question to the experts -- what do you think the folks in Cupertino will (or should) announce? March 19, 2012 08:00 AM EST
EA has made $10 - $15 million off Online Pass
You may know EA as simply a company that creates and publishes games, but we're pretty sure the company is full of wizards. How else can you explain conjuring up between $10 and $15 million dollars? That's what the Online Pass has helped the company do, CFO Eric Brown revealed (via Gamasutra). "The revenues we derive from that haven't been dramatic. I'd say they're in the $10-$15 million range since we initiated the program," he said. First introduced last year for EA Sports titles, the Online Pass quickly spread to a majority of EA's games. Now, plenty of other third-party publishers utilize the same code system. It was introduced to combat lost revenue from used game sales and, we'd say, a wild success, if not just straight-up magic.
