Good morning. Becoming CFO at one of the world’s largest companies is no small feat, especially early in one’s career. It’s why Fortune decided to highlight seven finance chiefs making huge strides before reaching their 40th birthdays—all of whom worked their way through the ranks to ascend to the C-suite’s No. 2 spot.
For example, Jessica Fischer, 39, of Charter Communications, which moved up three spots to No. 76 on the Fortune 500 list with $54.6 billion in revenue, was named CFO in October 2021. She most recently served as EVP of finance after joining the company as corporate treasurer in 2017. Before joining Charter, Fischer was a partner in the national tax department at EY.
Also on Fortune‘s shortlist is Susan Li, 38, of Meta. The tech company landed at No. 30 on the Fortune 500, earning $134.9 billion and moving up one spot from last year. Li joined the company, then called Facebook, in 2008 and took over as CFO in 2022.
Earlier this year, Li shared her thoughts with Fortune on the growing responsibilities of finance chiefs: “The evolving role of the CFO requires a delicate balance between traditional responsibilities, such as risk management and financial operations, while also building an efficiency and measurement-oriented culture throughout the organization.”
Another finance chief who’s spent at least 10 years at their firm is Shawn Flores, 35, of Par Pacific Holdings. The Houston-based American oil and gas exploration and production company landed at No. 454 in the Fortune 500, up 38 spots from last year, with the company earning $8.2 billion.
Flores has served as SVP and CFO since January 2023 after joining the company in July 2014 and serving in a variety of financial leadership roles. Before joining Par Pacific, he worked in finance roles with BG Group in Texas and the United Kingdom. And Flores has a new strategic partner in the C-suite: In May, William Pate, chief executive for eight years, stepped down but remained on as a director. He was succeeded by Will Monteleone, who has been with Par Pacific for more than a decade.
What’s next for Flores and these other up-and-coming finance chiefs? You can view a snapshot of them, including a former tennis pro and two at companies with family ties, here.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Quick note: Fortune has launched a new newsletter called Next to Lead that provides insights on how to reach the C-suite. You can sign up for the newsletter here.
Leaderboard
Lauri Kearnes was named CFO at Byrna Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: BYRN), effective July 15. Kearnes brings over 20 years of experience, most recently serving as CFO for Harte Hanks, a customer experience (CX) strategy company. Before her role as CFO at Harte Hanks, Kearnes held various positions, including corporate controller, group VP of finance, and VP of finance.
Erik Ostrowski was named SVP, CFO, and chief business officer at Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKBA), a biopharmaceutical company. Ostrowski joins Akebia from Avrobio, where he served as president, interim CEO and CFO leading the execution of its merger with Tectonic Therapeutic. Before that, he was CFO of Summit Therapeutics where he led its initial public offering on Nasdaq.
Big Deal
Consumer discretionary (non-essential goods and services) remained the most-shorted sector as sellers continue to bet that relatively high inflation will erode demand, according to new research by S&P Global Market Intelligence data. However, short interest fell in the sector, with a reduction of 30 basis points (bps) to 5.46% at the end of May compared to 5.76% at the end of April.
Short interest in the majority of the stock market declined as the S&P 500 rallied 4.8% from the end of April to the end of May, the research found. In contrast, short sellers actually boosted their bets against the materials sector the most. Short interest increased 10 (bps) to 3.10% at the end of May from 3% at the end of April, the highest level of short interest against the sector in years, according to S&P Global.
Going deeper
3 Ways to Clearly Communicate Your Company’s Strategy, a new report in Harvard Business Review, offers guidance to leaders on providing the necessary context for employees to understand company strategies. For example, explaining how each choice is linked to the organization’s purpose and involving employees in strategy development.
Overheard
“I do expect inflation to come down, and as we get into next year I believe that inflation will go back to the Fed’s 2% target.”
—U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Yahoo Finance in an interview. Yellen said she does “not see the basis” for a U.S. recession.
