Several high profile CFO appointments in the US this week have been topped by the announcement that John Connors is leaving Microsoft to become a partner at a Seattle-area venture capital firm and that former Shell CFO Guy Cowan is going to New Zealand dairy company Fonterra Cooperative Group
Connors joined Microsoft 16 years ago and has been CFO for five years. No successor was named and Microsoft said it was considering both internal and external candidates for the job.
Cowan worked at Royal Dutch/Shell for 23 years and is also a director of Shell Petroleum, the holding company for Shell's US interests. Previously he held finance positions at the company's Latin American, European, African, and Australian operating units.
Elsewhere in the US, Cleveland-based greeting card producer American Greetings announced that chief financial officer Bob Ryder has resigned, effective January 28. Ryder, who joined American Greetings in 2002, will take the position of executive vice president, chief financial and administrative officer at sports marketer IMG.
In Asia, Peter Mak has become the CFO of New Dragon Asia, taking the place of Li Xia Wang, who becomes a director.