Snap Fills Out Senior Ranks With CFO, HR Chief Appointments
Snap CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel has turned in house to fill the company’s CFO and head of human resources positions, completing an overhaul of the Snapchat parent’s executive ranks after a series of high-level departures.
The company announced the appointment of Derek Andersen, currently Snap’s VP of finance, as chief financial officer. Andersen will take over the CFO duties of Lara Sweet, interim finance chief and chief accounting officer, who has been appointed chief people officer. Both execs report to Spiegel.
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“I am thrilled to announce the promotions of Derek and Lara, which reflect their strengths as leaders,” Spiegel said in a statement. “We’re confident that Derek brings important stability to this vital role, given his strong financial expertise and impressive accomplishments working together with our team.” Regarding Sweet, Spiegel commented, “Lara has provided seamless continuity throughout the transitions in our finance team. I’ve long admired Lara’s approach to building culture and managing talent, so when she asked me for the opportunity to focus on people I was thrilled for her to step into this role.”
It’s the latest shuffle by Spiegel of his lieutenants, as he tries to get Snap pointed on a growth trajectory in 2019. Departures from Snap’s senior management ranks in the past year include to CFO Tim Stone, VP of marketing Steve LaBella, chief strategy officer Imran Khan, chief content officer Nick Bell, and head of ad sales Jeff Lucas (now at Verizon Media).
The new appointments for Andersen and Sweet come after other key hires. Last month, Snap announced the hiring of its first chief marketing officer, Kenny Mitchell, a consumer-marketing veteran who has worked at McDonald’s, Gatorade, NBC Sports Group and NASCAR. That came after it recruited three other senior execs: Jeremi Gorman, chief business officer, former head of ad sales at Amazon; Jared Grusd, chief strategy officer, ex-CEO of Huffington Post; and Julie Henderson, chief communications officer, formerly with 21st Century Fox.
Andersen, 41, joined Snap in July 2018 after a seven-year stint at Amazon, where he most recently was VP of finance supporting Amazon’s digital video business. He also previously served in roles at Fox Interactive Media, including as VP of finance and SVP, finance and business operations for IGN.
In the CFO position, Andersen will have an annual salary of $500,000 and received a new restricted stock award for 750,000 shares of Snap stock (vesting over four years), according to a regulatory filing Monday.
Sweet, 44, was controller and chief accounting officer at AOL before joining Snap in June 2016. At Snap, she has served multiple roles in the company’s finance organization, including interim CFO, chief accounting officer, and VP, controller. During her tenure as interim CFO, Sweet managed day-to-day operations of the company’s finance, accounting, and people teams. Earlier in her career, she worked in finance positions at Freddie Mac and Marriott International.
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