Best Buy and Kaiser Aluminum appoint new CFOs, and Citigroup adds another risk officer

05/05/2008

Best Buy has appointed James Muehlbauer (pictured) chief financial officer and executive vice president of finance. He replaces Darren Jackson, who was named executive vice president of operating groups in September. Mr. Muehlbauer, 46, has served as interim CFO since then. He was named CFO of Best Buy's U.S. business in 2006, after joining the company in 2002 from Pillsbury, where he served in finance positions for 10 years.

Kaiser Aluminum has appointed Daniel Rinkenberger (pictured) chief financial officer and senior vice president. He replaces Joseph Bellino, who has left to pursue other interests. Since joining Kaiser in 1991, Mr. Rinkenberger, 49, served as assistant treasurer and vice president of economic analysis and planning. He was made treasurer in 2005.

Robin Washington has been named chief financial officer and senior vice president of Gilead Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company in Foster City, Calif. Her predecessor, Caroline Dorsa, resigned in January to rejoin Merck as senior vice president for strategy and integration. Ms. Washington served as CFO of Hyperion Solutions before it was acquired by Oracle last year. Previously, she was corporate controller at PeopleSoft and a director of finance at Tandem Computers.

Citigroup has appointed Richard Evans chief risk officer for its institutional clients group. The position was created in February and has been filled on a temporary basis by Brian Leach, the bank’s chief risk officer. Mr. Evans, 47, is joining Citi from Deutsche Bank, where he served as deputy chief risk officer. Before joining Deutsche in 2000, he spent almost 20 years at J.P. Morgan Chase, where his final position was global head of risk management.

Ray Arthur (pictured) has been named chief financial officer and executive vice president of the Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack, the auto parts retailer in Philadelphia. He succeeds Harry Yanowitz, the company’s CFO since 2004, who said in January that he was leaving to pursue other business interests. Mr. Arthur, 49, was CFO of Toys R Us from 2004 to 2006, and earlier served as its corporate controller and as president and CFO of toysrus.com.

Arch Coal, the St. Louis-based coal producer, has named John Drexler (pictured) chief financial officer. He replaces Robert Messey, who is retiring after seven years as CFO. Mr. Drexler, 39, most recently served as Arch’s vice president of finance and accounting and previously was the company’s director of planning and forecasting. Before joining Arch in 1998, Mr. Drexler was an audit manager with Ernst & Young.

Michael Perda has been named chief financial officer of Welch’s, the Concord, Mass., juice processor and marketer that’s affiliated with the National Grape Cooperative Association. He succeeds Trey Wright, who retired. Mr. Perda, 44, is joining Welch’s from Honeywell International, where he was CFO for the consumer products group. Earlier, he served as European controller for Allied Signal.

Donald Grimes (pictured) has been appointed chief financial officer, treasurer and senior vice president of Wolverine World Wide, a footwear company in Rockford, Mich. He succeeds Stephen Gulis, who was named president of global operations. Mr. Grimes, 45, most recently was CFO of Keystone Automotive Operations and earlier spent 15 years in senior finance positions at Brown-Forman.

Zebra Technologies, the Vernon Hills, Ill., digital printing and automatic identification company, has named Michael Smiley (pictured) chief financial officer. He replaces Charles Whitchurch, who is retiring. Mr. Smiley, 48, will join Zebra from Tellabs, where he most recently served as general manager for the Denmark unit and earlier led all finance functions outside the U.S. Before joining Tellabs, Mr. Smiley worked for General Semiconductor, General Instrument and GATX Corp.

Henry Hirvela has been named chief financial officer and executive vice president of BRE Properties, a San Francisco real estate investment trust. He replaces Edward Lange Jr., who was promoted to chief operating officer last year. Mr. Hirvela, 56, joins BRE from VistaCare, where he was CFO. Earlier, he spent seven years as treasurer of Browning-Ferris Industries and four years as CFO of Allied Waste Industries.

Gramercy Capital Corp., a New York real estate investment company, has hired John Roche as chief financial officer. He succeeds Robert Foley, who has been promoted to chief operating officer. Mr. Roche was CFO of New Plan Excel Realty Trust from 2000 to 2007 and advised Gramercy on its recent acquisition of American Financial Realty Trust.

Matthew Harrison has been named chief financial officer, vice president of finance, secretary and director both for Hiland Partners, a midstream energy company in Enid, Okla., and its affiliate, Hiland Holdings. He succeeds Ken Maples, who resigned in March to pursue other interests. Mr. Harrison, 37, who has served as interim CFO, joined Hiland in February as vice president of business development from Wachovia, where he was a director in the energy and power mergers and acquisitions group. Earlier, he worked in mergers and acquisitions at A.G. Edwards and was a senior accountant at Price Waterhouse.

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