Good morning. Proven public-company CFOs are scarce enough that companies increasingly offer pre-paid packages when recruiting them away from other organizations, especially at companies that need a boost to their turnaround strategy.
That’s what Shawn Cole, president and co-founder of Cowen Partners, an executive search firm, told me he’s seeing. The most recent example is Nike, he said.
David M. Denton will join the retail giant as EVP and CFO on Aug. 17, when current finance chief Matthew Friend will step down but remain with the company through Sept. 4, the company announced on June 23. Denton is coming from the CFO role at Pfizer Inc. Before that, he was the CFO of Lowe’s Companies Inc. Earlier in his career, he spent two decades at CVS Health Corporation, including as CFO.
He brings more than 30 years of finance and operating leadership experience across complex global public companies—and that comes with a well-deserved premium, according to Cole.
“Denton is getting a $7.25 million new-hire cash award, structured as a make-whole for the compensation he’s walking away from at Pfizer,” Cole said. “That’s on top of a $1.45 million base, an $11.5 million FY2027 long-term incentive target, and a separate $4 million performance award that vests later.”
