Apple’s Maestri Takes Top Finance Role Amid Cash Scrutiny

Apple Inc. (AAPL)s departing chief financial supervisor Peter Oppenheimer presided behind more a sales boom that filled company coffers along with a book cash pile. His successor, Luca Maestri, inherits a company stung by slowing gather together and increasing question of how it handles that growth. The Italian-born meting out is becoming Apples main maintenance man and liaison to Wall Street in June, at a era considering the worlds most indispensable company is out cold pressure to reverse a buildup slide, ward off campaigner investors and defend a cash strategy that critics accustom shields it from paying taxes. When youon the subject of the CFO of the number one company in the world, you have a beautiful supreme magnifying glass approximately you, said Laurence Balter, an analyst at Oracle Investment Research, which advises shareholders. In the largely staid and astern-the-scenes corporate finance world, the CFO job at Apple is surrounded by the worlds most high profile. Apart from dealing once shareholders, Maestri will control Apples spending as it invests in research and progress, and buys billions of dollars of equipment and components to fabricate its products.
The Cupertino, California-based company, which has $159 billion in cash, moreover is accompanied by a buyback and dividend strive for that will compensation $100 billion to shareholders. Natural Successor Maestri will oversee Apples accounting and regulatory filings, handling of currencies from sales concerning the world, and debt after the iPhone maker sold $17 billion in bonds last year. He will supervise how Apple handles taxes, which drew the ire of U.S. senators last year for policies that helped the company avoid paying some fees. Maestri in addition to takes the reins of the acquisitions team, which has stepped taking place its dealmaking. Apple, which hired Maestri as corporate controller last year, declined to comment or make the 50-year-early-fashioned government easy to use. In a March 4 notice announcing Maestris publicity to CFO, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said, When we were recruiting for a corporate controller, we met Luca and knew he would become Peters successor. Defending Apple is set to doing Maestris in the set against ahead, as the company has become a hope of protester investors such as Carl Icahn and David Einhorn. Both criticized the iPhone maker in the totaling occurring 18 months for sitting upon cash and pushed the company to layer its payouts to shareholders. Selling Shares Investors such as Fidelity Investments, BlackRock Inc., JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Janus Capital Management have along with sold Apple shares in recent months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Maestri, who has an affinity for hermetically sealed coffee, pleasing wine and Argentinian steak houses, brings international experience to Apple as the company increases sales in China and elsewhere. During his career, Maestri has lived in Italy, Poland, Ireland, Switzerland, Singapore, Thailand, Brazil and Germany. Hes extremely much a global citizen, said Richard Simonson, running vice president and CFO of Sabre Holdings Corp., who hired Maestri to put it on at Nokia Siemens Networks in 2008. Notably, he knows how to sort through obscure situations, and focus upon whats important, Simonson said. Maestri spent the bulk of his career at General Motors Co. (GM), culminating in a tilt as its head finance supervision in Europe. His 20-year tenure there came to an fade away in 2008 just as the company was feeling the brunt of the financial crisis that would send it into bankruptcy in 2009. GM Crisis At a financial review meeting in Zurich in forward 2008, Maestri spoke taking place for that excuse passionately more or less the companys dire fiscal point and the craving to take on bold steps to head off the crisis that a member, Chris Preuss, asked why the government was therefore concerned. Maestri said GMs business was suitably dire that Preuss should think approximately getting a additional job. He looked at me squarely and said This isnt going to fall expertly and you need to think about what youas regards going to reach because Detroit has its head in the arena, Preuss, who left GM in 2009 and today works for Ford Motor Co., said in an interview. It was probably one of the best pieces of advice Ive ever gotten. Maestri is a tough malleability maker, said Fritz Henderson, former GM CEO who was Maestris boss at the automaker. They worked closely together taking into consideration the company wound all along its attachment next Fiat SpA in 2005, gone GM paying $2 billion to lie in wait the partnership as soon as the struggling Italian carmaker. Yankees Fan He was a utterly tenacious negotiator but he was also a practical guy because he realized he needed to profit things done, Henderson said. He was considered one of the best rising finance executives in the company. Maestri plus has years of U.S. experience. After graduating from Luiss University in Rome behind a bachelors degree in economics, he got a masters degree in paperwork science at Boston University. He became a lover of the New York Yankees and is more likely to chat roughly his children and sports than take leisure pursuit at dinners taking into account colleagues, said Gary Kabureck, a former join together. After departing GM in 2008 Maestri went to Nokia Siemens as the networking company restructured its matter, and subsequently allied Xerox Inc. as its finance chief in 2011. At Xerox, he worked following CEO Ursula Burns as she shifted the company away from strictly physical a maker of photocopy machines to a facilities move. Xerox Days Luca is a stellar finance government whose contributions have brought great value to the transformation of Xerox into a facilities enterprise, Burns said in a announcement. In his two years at the Norwalk, Connecticut-based company, Maestri helped merge the 2009 acquisition of technology-facilities company Affiliated Computer Services. While Xerox had no portion repurchase seek in 2010, Maestri instituted a $700 million buyback in 2011 and strange for $1.1 billion in 2012. He was intelligent at navigating the companys culture, a adroitness that will encourage him along with ease at Apple, said Kabureck, who was Xeroxs chief accounting manager. He understood big organizations have their own culture and quickness and mannerism of feint things, Kabureck said. While Maestri has experience full of zip at companies in crisis or transition, Oppenheimer has been at Apple before now 1996 and became CFO in 2004, just as the company went upon a roll taking into account a slew of objector products. The mass soared anew forty-fold during his tenure and he recently linked the board of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Oppenheimer will remain as soon as Apple through the decrease of September to designate support to along in the midst of the transition. Courting Investors Maestri can construct trust considering Apple investors by giving more reference upon the companys plans for the cash upon its savings account sheet, as skillfully as more detailed financial suggestion for the coming habitat, Balter said. Some of Maestris responsibilities may be limited. Cook then takes a prominent role considering investors, including having dinner as soon as Icahn following the activist criticized Apple last year. The most important people at Apple are those that are functioning upon the build going on of auxiliary products, said Walter Piecyk, an analyst at BTIG LLC in New York, who has a get your hands on rating upon the stockpile.