All posts tagged: CFO

OpenAI Misses Revenue, User Targets As CFO Fears .5 Trillion In Commitments Can’t Be Paid

OpenAI Misses Revenue, User Targets As CFO Fears $1.5 Trillion In Commitments Can’t Be Paid

Published by Jenni Sidey

Earlier today, when previewing this week’s earnings by the Mag 7 which account for over $10 trillion in market cap set to report Q1 results after the close on Wednesday, Goldman’s Delta-One head Rich Privorotsky said that “Equities are being driven by one thing…AI spend”, and warned that “it’s hard not to respect the strength of the AI bid, but the velocity has been extreme. The upside surprise vs expectations has almost entirely come from AI spend…it’s the whole game.”  Not only is the whole game, it is the one thing that has prevented the market from collapsing into the Iran war’s stagflationary black hole, with “oil/product prices is sucking the oxygen out of the room…Europe underperforming, dispersion extreme.”  But none of that matters as long as capex recipients, i.e., chip and semi stocks, keep surging on hopes and expectations that the LLMs and hyperscalers will keep pumping them full of cash day after day, for the unforeseeable future, which they have so far: recall that at the end of Q4, full-year capex estimates soared to …

Snap names Doug Hott as new CFO

Snap names Doug Hott as new CFO

Published by Sam Flores

April 20 : Snapchat-parent Snap on Monday named Doug Hott as its new CFO, replacing Derek Andersen.  • Hott, 53, has served as the company’s vice president of finance, strategy, and corporate development. • Andersen, who has been in the role for seven years, is expected to leave on May 8. • The move comes soon after the social media firm last week laid off 1,000 employees, including 16 per cent of full-time staff, becoming the latest technology company to shift towards leaner teams. • The company is expected to report first-quarter results on May 6. Source link

Japan’s tax changes on heated tobacco threaten JTI product growth this year, CFO says 

Japan’s tax changes on heated tobacco threaten JTI product growth this year, CFO says 

Published by Sam Flores

Feb 13 – A tax increase on heated tobacco products in Japan this year could curb growth, Japan Tobacco International’s finance chief Vassilis Vovos told Reuters, adding the company would put up the price of its brands throughout the year to ease disruptions.  JTI, the tobacco unit of Japanese conglomerate Japan Tobacco that makes Winston and Camel cigarettes, has been rapidly expanding its heated tobacco device Ploom in Japan, the world’s largest market for heated tobacco products currently dominated by U.S.-listed rival Philip Morris International.  Heated tobacco products currently attract a lower tax rate than cigarettes. A Japanese government plan to remove that advantage would lead to heated tobacco being taxed exactly like traditional tobacco, prompting price rises, Vovos said in an interview late on Thursday.  “This increase is a significant one, and it could be in the area of 70 to 90 yen,” he said, referring to the impact on the retail price, adding this could also reach 100 yen ($0.6513) after the sales tax. Lower pricing has helped increase the appeal of heated tobacco, …

AMC Networks CFO Patrick O’Connell to Exit

AMC Networks CFO Patrick O’Connell to Exit

Published by Daniella Wilson

AMC Networks chief financial officer Patrick O’Connell is exiting the company after more than three years in the job. The executive has decided to undertake “an opportunity outside the media industry,” AMC Networks announced on Thursday, without offering further specifics. O’Connell will remain at the company until March while a search for his replacement has begun. O’Connell will appear in the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call. In a statement, AMC Networks CEO Kristin Dolan called O’Connell a “trusted colleague” and “steady leader.” Dolan added that O’Connell’s decision “comes with our full support, and we wish him every success in this next chapter.” O’Connell was named CFO of AMC Networks in August of 2022 after a career that spanned finance, media and e-commerce. He came to the entertainment company from BRANDED, a digital consumer platform, where he was chief strategy officer. Prior to that, O’Connell worked at CBS and Goldman Sachs. As CFO of AMC Networks, O’Connell oversaw the finances of a portfolio spanning the streaming services AMC+, Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now, ALLBLK and HIDIVE …

OpenAI CFO says annualized revenue crosses billion in 2025

OpenAI CFO says annualized revenue crosses $20 billion in 2025

Published by Sam Flores

Jan 19 : OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar said in a blog post on Sunday the company’s annualized revenue has surpassed $20 billion in 2025, up from $6 billion in 2024 with growth closely tracking an expansion in computing capacity. OpenAI’s computing capacity rose to 1.9 gigawatts (GW) in 2025 from 0.6 GW in 2024, Friar said in the blog, adding that Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s weekly and daily active users figures continue to produce all-time highs. OpenAI last week said it would start showing ads in ChatGPT to some U.S. users, ramping up efforts to generate revenue from the AI chatbot to fund the high costs of developing the technology. Separately, Axios reported on Monday that OpenAI’s policy chief Chris Lehane said that the company is “on track” to unveil its first device in the second half of 2026. Friar said OpenAI’s platform spans text, images, voice, code and APIs, and the next phase will focus on agents and workflow automation that run continuously, carry context over time, and take action across tools. For 2026, …

Duolingo CFO Matt Skaruppa to step down after nearly six years

Duolingo CFO Matt Skaruppa to step down after nearly six years

Published by Sam Flores

Jan 12 : Duolingo said on Monday that Chief Financial Officer Matt Skaruppa will step down after nearly six years in the role, marking the departure of a key executive who helped the language-learning app maker go public. During his tenure, the company saw consistent revenue growth and improving profitability as it converted strong user engagement into paid subscriptions and ramped up the use of artificial intelligence to personalize lessons and attract more users. Skaruppa, who joined Duolingo in early 2020, will remain CFO until February 23, before moving into an advisory role to support a leadership transition, the company said. Gillian Munson will succeed Skaruppa as CFO, the Pittsburgh-based company said. Munson has served on Duolingo’s board since 2019 and previously held senior finance roles at Vimeo and other technology companies. Separately, Duolingo announced preliminary results for the December quarter. Daily active users grew about 30 per cent, largely in line with expectations, according to Visible Alpha data. Bookings for the fourth-quarter were between $329.5 million and $335.5 million, marginally below estimates of $334.2 …

Star Entertainment CFO and COO resign

Star Entertainment CFO and COO resign

Published by skeptic

Two key players at Star Entertainment, the CFO and COO, have resigned with one having already left and the other to no longer be involved from the end of January 2026. The move was announced a month after gaming giant Bally’s Corporation took over the struggling business at the end of November. The announcement came this week, with it stating that Frank Krile, the Group Chief Financial Officer, has resigned and left The Star effective on Monday (December 29, 2025). The Group Chief Operating Officer, Jeannie Mok, has also resigned and will be leaving at the end of next month. She has been working with the company since 11 June 2024, with her role involving leading the remediation efforts and bringing together several group functions to provide coordinated and consistent support to the business. The process to find a new Group Chief Financial Officer will now begin, with an update to be provided in due course. Speaking about the departures, CEO Bruce Mathieson Jnr said: “I would like to thank Frank and Jeannie for their …