At a glance

  • Audio giant iHeartMedia said in a securities filing Monday that Executive Vice President and Deputy Chief Financial Officer Michael McGuinness has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer, effective January 1, 2025.
  • McGuinness will succeed Richard Bressler, who currently serves as CFO, COO, and President. Bressler joined the New York-based podcast distributor in July 2013 as CFO and President, and took on additional COO duties in February 2015.
  • The owner of iHeartRadio (whose podcasts include "Stuff You Should Know") said in the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that Bressler will remain COO and President, and McGuinness will report directly to Bressler upon becoming CFO.

Deep Dive

The CFO transition runs counter to the current trend of companies combining the CFO and COO roles. Bressler is stepping down from the finance chief role after 12 years. As CFO Dive previously reported, companies such as Salesforce and payment processor PayPal have announced such dual roles this year.

Although the two roles are often complementary, their combination depends on the executive's personality and company culture, Scott Roe, CFO and COO of Tapestry, parent of Coach and Kate Spade, said during a panel discussion at the MIT Sloan CFO Summit on November 20.

McGuinness joined iHeartMedia in September 2019 as Executive Vice President of Finance and Deputy CFO. According to his LinkedIn profile, before joining iHeartMedia, he served as Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer, and Treasurer at manufacturing company Hain Celestial Group, and spent seven years at job platform Monster. He began his career as a senior auditor at Arthur Andersen.

According to the filing, McGuinness will serve as CFO starting January 1 with an annual salary of $1.2 million. The company also increased his annual target bonus opportunity to 150% of salary and adjusted his long-term annual incentive award to a target grant-date fair value of $15 million under the amended employment agreement.

The CFO transition comes as the media company is on track to achieve $150 million in net cost savings by year-end, Chief Executive Officer Robert Pittman said on a recent earnings call. According to the transcript, Pittman also said the company plans to add another $50 million in annual incremental savings starting in 2026.

"Just a reminder, we run the company with relentless focus on maximizing the efficiency of our operating structure, including the use of new technologies such as AI-driven tools and services," Pittman said.

In the third quarter ended September 30, iHeartMedia reported a GAAP operating loss of $116 million, compared with operating income of $77 million in the same period last year, according to its earnings report. The loss includes a $209 million non-cash impairment charge related to its Federal Communications Commission licenses.

Company executives also highlighted another strong quarter for its digital audio segment, which includes its podcast business — a business the company says operates "the most profitable podcast business in the U.S.," Pittman said on the earnings call.

Company podcast revenue grew 22% year over year to $140 million, with adjusted EBITDA margin rising to just above 38% from approximately 33% in the same period last year.