Microsoft Promotes Regional Leader to New Global Digital Transformation Role
Microsoft has appointed Ali Faramawy to the newly announced global role as the head of the Emerging Markets Digital Transformation Organization which has been established within Microsoft. He has headed the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region for thirteen years, most recently as President.
Facebook Names Head Global Music Strategy and BD; New Head of Development to Join Team
Tamara Hrivnak
Facebook has hired Tamara Hrivnak to head its global music strategy and business development. The former director of music partnerships at YouTube and Google Play is a veteran of the music business, having spent almost eight years at Warner Music Group and Warner/Chappell before joining Google in 2011.
Mina Lefevre will join the Facebook team as head of development and will work to create content for the social network.
SAP Appoints General Manager of SAP Digital Commerce
SAP appointed Madhur Aggarwal as general manager of SAP Digital Commerce, reporting to chief digital officer Jonathan Becher. Madhur has been instrumental in the creation and growth of SAPs digital business since its inception in 2015, and has had multiple roles on the team, from COO to chief product owner. In those roles, he has demonstrated extraordinary passion and dedication to SAPs digital success.
Baidu Appoints Microsoft Exec as President and COO
Baidu appointed Dr. Qi Lu as Baidu's Group President and COO, in charge of products, technology, sales, marketing and operations, effective immediately. Prior to joining Baidu, Dr. Lu served as Microsoft's Global EVP and led one of Microsoft's three business units. In 2013, Dr. Lu was appointed as Microsoft's Global EVP and was put in charge of its Office business.
PayPal Announces Regional Executive Changes
PayPal has appointed Federico Zambelli Hosmer as the new general manager of its Italian unit. Previously head of small and medium business, Western Europe, Zambelli Hosmer has been tasked with ensuring that PayPal becomes the daily payment partner of choice for a growing number of Italians. He replaces Angelo Meregalli, who becomes director of the commercial solutions and integration team for Continental Europe, Middle East and Africa after heading PayPay Italia for over four years.
Yahoo! Announces Resignation of Ronald Bell as General Counsel and Secretary
Ronald Bell resigned as Yahoo! General Counsel and Secretary and from all other positions with the company. Yahoo announced that general counsel Ron Bell is leaving the tech giant after an investigation of the company revealed that its legal team failed to sufficiently inquire into a massive 2014 cybersecurity breach.
Global Payments Appoints Member of the Board and Promotes CFO to Senior EVP Level
Global Payments appointed William B. Plummer as a member of the Board. Plummer has served as the EVP and CFO of United Rentals. He also serves as a director of John Wiley & Sons.
The company announced the promotion of Cameron M. Bready to Senior EVP and CFO. In this role, Bready will continue to lead the company's global finance organization, including corporate finance, business financial services, accounting and tax, as well as worldwide corporate development initiatives. Bready joined Global Payments in June 2014 as EVP and CFO.
Twitter Announces More Executive Departures
Two more executives announced their departures from Twitter. Lara Cohen stepped down as head of entertainment talent, while David Bicknell stepped down as director of finance.
Zillow Group Appoints VP of Product at Slack as Board Member
April Underwood
Zillow Group announced that the appointment of April Underwood to the company's Board. Underwood is VP of product at Slack. She joined Slack as head of platform in June 2015. Underwood also is a founding member of #Angels. From 2010 until 2015, Underwood led product, marketing and business development teams as director of product at Twitter.
Agero Hires Chief Digital Officer from Cimpress
Bernie Gracy, former SVP, Global Product Technology and Merchant Services, Cimpress, has been named Chief Digital Officer for the $1b connected car company, Agero. Prior to Cimpress, he served as VP Strategy, Digital Commerce Solutions at Pitney Bowes. Before joining Pitney Bowes in 1997, he served at United Parcel Service (UPS) as Director, Roadnet Technologies, a division of UPS from 1993 to 1997 and Project Leader/Technical Leader from 1990 to 1993. Earlier in his career he served as Senior Software Engineer at Gerber Scientific from 1987 to 1990 and Software Engineer at Micrognosis from 1986 to 1987.
Just Eat CEO Steps Down
Online food order and delivery service firm Just Eat plc announced that, due to urgent family matters, David Buttress has informed it of his intention to step down from his role as CEO. David will work full time in the Company until the end of the first quarter, at which time John Hughes, who has been Chairman of the Board for almost six years, will assume the role of Executive Chairman. John will work closely with David and CFO Paul Harrison to ensure a smooth and orderly handover. The board is commencing an immediate search to find a replacement for David. David has agreed to serve a minimum one-year term as a non-executive director.
Grubhub Announces Departure of Benjamin Spero from Board
Grubhub announced the resignation of Benjamin Spero from its Board. Spero is departing in order to increase his focus on other business interests. Spero first joined the Board as a Seamless director in June 2011, and served more than three years as a Grubhub director following the merger in August 2013.
Yelp Witnesses Changes in Engineering Leadership
Yelp, a website and mobile app that connects people with great local businesses, announced that longtime senior engineering manager Jason Fennell has been appointed SVP and will lead the company’s engineering efforts. After more than a decade with Yelp, current SVP of Engineering Michael Stoppelman will leave the company in the coming months to pursue personal interests and initiatives.
Fennell joined Yelp in 2008 as an engineer responsible for search and data mining. He progressed through increasingly senior roles and was most recently VP of Engineering for Data Mining, with more than 150 reports spanning Yelp’s algorithmically focused teams as well as partnerships, data infrastructure and parts of the business owner product.
Paysafe Group Appoints Chief Digital Officer and CMO
Online payments company Paysafe Group has appointed Tim Thurman as Chief Digital Officer. Thurman is joining Paysafe from Australian Securities Exchange, where he served as CIO and executed the exchange's Technology Transformation Strategy.
Paysafe announced that Oscar Nieboer has been appointed as the Group's first CMO. Before joining Paysafe, Nieboer was CMO at Amazon Instant Video.
Zynga Appoints Couple of Board Members with Venture Capital and Global Technology Experience
Two new directors are joining Zynga’s Board, Carol G. Mills and Janice M. Roberts. Mills brings more than three decades of experience building global engineering teams to Zynga's Board. She currently serves as Chairman of Xactly and serves on the Board of Directors for RELX Group. Most recently, Mills served as the Interim CEO of Blue Coat Systems in late 2011. Before that, she spent nearly two years at Juniper Network, where she served as EVP and General Manager of its Infrastructure Products Group.
Roberts brings more than three decades of venture capital and technology experience to Zynga's Board. She is currently a Partner at Benhamou Global Ventures. Roberts serves on the Boards of Zebra Technologies and RealNetworks, and most recently served on the board of ARM Holdings. Prior to joining Benhamou Global Ventures, Roberts served as a Managing Director at Mayfield Fund for 13 years. Preceding her career in venture capital, Roberts held a number of executive roles in Europe and the U.S.
Shutterfly Names SVP, Retail from Activate
Internet-based image publishing services firm Shutterfly appointed Michele Anderson as SVP, retail. In her role at Shutterfly, Anderson will guide the development and execution of Shutterfly’s consumer growth strategy across its many product categories, both in its core business and in new categories over time. Anderson joins Shutterfly from Activate where she served as COO and managing director.
Shutterstock Appoints CFO to Additional COO Role
Global online photo marketplace Shutterstock announced that Steven Berns, its CFO, has been appointed as COO. Along with his new responsibility, Berns will also continue in his role as CFO.
Date Range: January 30th - March 6th