Xerox CFO Departs After Less Than a Year in Role

Dive Brief:

• Xerox Holdings announced Wednesday that Chuck Butler, its chief business services officer, will assume leadership of the finance department, just five months after taking his current position. The transition is effective Dec. 3, according to a company press release.
• Butler, 51, will succeed Mirlanda Gecaj, who became CFO in February. Gecaj is departing to pursue new opportunities, with the company describing the move as a “mutual decision.”
• “Mirlanda has played a meaningful role in guiding the company through an important period of transformation,” said Xerox CEO Steve Bandrowczak in the release. “On behalf of the Board and leadership team, I thank her for her leadership and contributions and wish her the very best in the future.”

Dive Insight:

The announcement comes amid a major reorganization at the Norwalk, Connecticut-based manufacturer of printers and other information technology products. It also follows a mixed earnings report from the company last month.

Xerox posted $1.96 billion in revenue for its third quarter ended Sept. 30, a 28.3% increase compared with a year earlier. However, the company said revenue declined 7.8% on a “pro forma” basis, excluding the impact of recent acquisitions.

“The third quarter reflected a continuation of the uncertain macro environment we saw earlier in the year,” Gecaj said during an earnings call at the time. “Despite these near-term challenges, we continue to execute with discipline and are making meaningful progress on cost savings.”

Last month, the company initiated job cuts resulting from its $1.5 billion acquisition of imaging technology supplier Lexmark, Xerox spokesperson Justin Capella confirmed in an email, corroborating earlier news reports.

“Xerox can confirm that following the successful completion of the Lexmark acquisition, last month the company began employee notifications of a workforce reduction as part of its broader effort to integrate and merge the two companies’ operations,” Capella said. “These are difficult, but necessary decisions as we work to integrate our teams and optimize resources for long-term success under the new organization.”

The company declined to disclose specifics about affected employees.

Prior to joining Xerox, Butler served as CFO at Lexmark, where he helped guide the company through its acquisition by Xerox, according to the Wednesday release. He will retain leadership of Xerox’s global business services organization, the company said.

“Chuck’s experience leading large-scale organizational change and his focus on empowering teams will be invaluable in advancing our next phase of growth and performance,” Bandrowczak said in the release.