Leadership
Nissan announced on Tuesday that CFO Jérémie Papin is stepping down for "personal reasons," just over a year after taking the role. His successor, George Leondis, a 20-year Nissan veteran, will assume the position on April 1. On the same day, Nissan announced nominations for key board positions, including the chairman candidate. The CFO change comes as Nissan pushes forward with its "Re:Nissan" restructuring plan, which faces pressure from cost-cutting and turnaround efforts.
According to the latest KPMG survey, in light of potential refunds arising from the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that some tariffs are invalid, most corporate executives tend to reinvest funds in supply chain diversification, R&D, and capital expenditure, rather than shareholder returns or customer rebates. The survey also shows that only a few companies plan to completely eliminate price increases caused by tariffs.
MindBridge CFO Matthias Steinberg says financial leaders are under pressure from the capability gap between generative AI and machine learning. He believes that LLM-based generative AI is not 'out-of-the-box' for numerical processing and needs to be combined with technologies like machine learning. He advises CFOs to start with small projects and gradually advance AI adoption.
FedEx formally sued the U.S. government on Monday, demanding a refund of all tariffs levied under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), after the Supreme Court ruled such tariffs invalid. FedEx stated it has paid multiple IEEPA tariffs and requested the court to order U.S. Customs and Border Protection to reliquidate the relevant import entries.
CPI Card Group disclosed last week that Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Hochstadt departed on February 13, and the company appointed Terra Grantham as interim CFO. Hochstadt will serve as an advisor until the end of June. The company plans to release fourth-quarter and full-year earnings on March 5.
Implementing or upgrading an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is a complex and critical task for CFOs. During a joint online event hosted by CFO Dive and CFO.com, multiple experts shared four core recommendations: clarifying key terms before signing contracts, abandoning a one-size-fits-all ERP mindset, strengthening collaboration between CFOs and CISOs to address security risks, and considering alternative paths that do not involve implementing traditional ERP systems. These recommendations aim to help financial leaders make more informed decisions in digital transformation.
McKinsey's latest report shows that the application of generative AI in the M&A field has significantly improved efficiency: deal cycles have shortened by 10% to 30%, and costs have decreased by about 20%. This technology also helps companies identify M&A opportunities more quickly and has contributed to the recovery of global M&A activity in 2025, with transaction value increasing by 43% year-over-year.
Crist Kolder Associates' Volatility Report shows that in 2025, the proportion of CFOs directly promoted to CEO exceeded 10%, up from approximately 7% in 2024. However, Craig Stevens, Managing Partner at Boyden, believes that during an economic upswing, companies focus more on growth than cost control, and the path for CFOs to become CEOs may narrow.
Hubstaff's 2026 Global Benchmark Report shows that employees average only 2 to 3 hours of focused time per day, with hybrid teams having the lowest proportion of focused time, and increased meetings and poor scheduling being the main distractions.
Robinhood's new CFO, Shiv Verma, officially took office on February 6, with a compensation package including a $500,000 base annual salary, a 60% target bonus, and approximately $2.3 million in annual equity. Just days after taking office, the company released its Q4 and full-year 2025 financial results, which missed expectations, with cryptocurrency revenue down 38% year-over-year and the stock price falling about 7% that day. Against the backdrop of the 'crypto winter,' Verma emphasized the company's diversification strategy and a long-term bullish outlook on cryptocurrency.