Good morning. Ryder System, Inc.’s talent development includes preparing its longtime executives for different C-suite roles. That includes Cristina Gallo-Aquino, SVP, controller, and principal accounting officer at the transportation and logistics company who is taking on the role of EVP and CFO. She will succeed John J. Diez, who was promoted to president and chief operating officer (COO).
The Coins2Day 500 company headquartered in Miami announced on Monday that Gallo-Aquino and Diez will begin their new roles on Jan. 1. Both executives have worked at Ryder for more than 20 years. Diez joined the company in 2002 and has held various senior leadership operating and finance roles becoming CFO in 2021. Gallo-Aquino joined Ryder in 2004. Before her current role, she was the VP and CFO for the company’s fleet management solutions business unit and VP and corporate controller.
Gallo-Aquino is the second woman to become CFO at Ryder, according to a company representative. She follows in the footsteps of Tracy A. Leinbach, who worked with former CEO Gregory T. Swienton. Leinbach was promoted to CFO in 2003 and retired from Ryder in 2006, after a more than 20-year career.
The company is committed to talent development at all levels, Ryder chair and CEO Robert E. Sanchez said in Monday’s announcement. “This includes providing leadership opportunities in positions that broaden our team’s capabilities through rotational assignments, as well as providing roles of increasing responsibility that contribute to the long-term progress and stability of our company,” Sanchez said.
Ryder has been in business for over 90 years. In 2019, the company began a transformation plan that focuses on accelerating the growth of its more asset-light lines of business such as supply-chain and logistics consulting, Sanchez said during the Goldman Sachs Industrials & Materials Conference on Dec. 4.
Prior to the transformation plan, those businesses represented 40% of revenues, while the asset-intensive trucking business was 60%, Sanchez explained. Now, those numbers are reversed.
Ryder’s strategy of providing rotational assignments for its executives is a best practice, Scott W. Simmons co-managing partner of the executive search firm Crist Kolder Associates, told me.
“Some of the very best CFO training grounds, such as Honeywell and GE, have the rotational philosophy ingrained in their culture,” Simmons said.
There is some risk involved when you rotate a professional outside of their functional expertise, he explained. But at the same time, this strategy provides the best opportunity to promote from within when succession needs arise, he said. “In the case of Ryder, Diez has already served in key general management positions, so the risk of moving him over all lines of business is mitigated,” Simmons said.
Ryder is most likely positioning Diez as a CEO succession candidate, he said. Just prior to being named CEO in 2013, Sanchez spent a year as COO, Simmons said. Also, Sanchez’s predecessor as CEO, Gregory T. Swienton, served as COO before being promoted to the top chair. “This is Ryder’s playbook,” he said.
It will be interesting to see where Diez and Gallo-Aquino’s career paths at the company will go.
Sheryl Estrada
[email protected]
The following sections of CFO Daily were curated by Greg McKenna.
Leaderboard
Laura Lentini was promoted to interim CFO of The Children’s Place (Nasdaq: PLCE), a youth apparel, accessories, and footwear company, effective Dec. 14. She replaces Sheamus Toal, who stepped down as finance chief and COO. Lentini joined the company in October. She previously served as SVP and corporate controller at Capri Holdings, which houses luxury fashion brands Versace, Jimmy Choo, and Michael Kors.
Robert Day was promoted to EVP and CFO of Darling Ingredients (NYSE: DAR), an agricultural commodities company, effective Feb. 25. He is replacing Brad Phillips, who will remain with the company as an advisor until his retirement on June 15. Day joined the company as chief strategy officer in August 2023 from investment bank and advisory firm Ascendant Partners, where he served as a partner. He previously worked at Ceres Global Ag Corp., where he was named CEO in 2016.
Big Deal
Finance chiefs are committed to beefing up on cybersecurity in the age of AI, according to Grant Thornton’s fourth-quarter CFO survey. Out of more than 250 finance leaders at organizations doing more than $100 million in yearly revenue, 69% said they expect cybersecurity expenses to increase over the next 12 months—a four-year high and an increase of 16 percentage points over Q3. It's now the second-highest focus area for CFOs, sitting just slightly behind cost optimization.
“Cybersecurity around AI is very new,” said Derek Han, Grant Thornton’s leader in the space. “People are investing in this area because they want to make sure they control those risks.”
The survey results also reflected growing CFO confidence following the resolution of the U.S. Election. The percentage of finance leaders who expect sales and marketing expenses to increase rose for a sixth consecutive quarter to 58%, signaling that CFOs are becoming increasingly aggressive when it comes to boosting revenue. After two rounds of rate cuts from the Federal Reserve (and a third likely coming on Wednesday), the report found finance chiefs are now less concerned about liquidity, debt, and access to capital to fund their plans.
Going deeper
A San Francisco jury found Nima Momeni guilty of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of beloved tech mogul and Cash App CEO Bob Lee. Lee’s killing last April led to a wave of finger-pointing by venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, including Elon Musk, who blamed it on liberal policies and homelessness. Momeni was not a stranger to Lee, however, but a fellow tech executive.
Last year, Coins2Day’s Leo Schwartz and former tech correspondent Kylie Robison spoke with more than a dozen people, including several of Lee’s and Momeni’s friends and coworkers, to piece together how the lives of both men intersected.
Overheard
“We see really talented executives missing the opportunity to accelerate their careers because they’re following a more traditional mindset about what the next step might look like. They are missing the chance to undertake these catapults, and that feels like an untapped opportunity for folks who are ambitious.”
— Elena Lytkina Botelho, a partner at management consulting firm ghSmart and leader of its CEO Genome Project, told Coins2Day in an interview about “CEO sprinters,” or executives who reach the corner office quicker than average. The story is part of the inaugural Coins2Day Next to Lead: The 25 Most Powerful Rising Executives in the Coins2Day 500.
