Sotheby's Announces New CFO

Sotheby's as well as many news services are reporting on the appointment of Michael Goss, from Bain Capital as the new chief financial officer of Sotheby's. As many of us are aware, Sotheby's has been going through a rather large change in leadership and possibly direction over the past several months. Goss will have to deal with some possible soft markets as well as activist shareholders.

Blooomberg reports

Sotheby’s, an auctioneer of art and collectibles, said it hired Michael Goss, a former partner and managing director at private equity firm Bain Capital as its new chief financial officer and executive vice president.

A graduate of Harvard Business School, Goss, 56, was Bain’s CFO from 2001 to 2011, Sotheby’s said in a press release on Thursday. He will start on March 28. Goss will succeed Dennis Weibling, who served as interim CFO from December.

It’s the latest change in management restructuring under Chief Executive Officer Tad Smith. Since Sotheby’s previous CFO Patrick McClymont resigned in December, Smith has said that the auction house needs to replace him with someone who has similar experience at a public company. Hedge fund manager Dan Loeb, Sotheby’s largest shareholder, has pushed the company to become more profitable since 2013.

 Source: Bloomberg

Sotheby's stated in a press release

NEW YORK, March 03, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sotheby's has named Michael Goss as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Goss, 56, will assume his new role effective 28 March 2016.

Mr. Goss, a partner and managing director at Bain Capital from 2001-2013, served as the firm's Chief Financial Officer from 2001-2011, as Chief Operating Officer from 2004 to 2011, and Head of Global Investor Relations from 2012-2013.  During his tenure in these roles, Mr. Goss oversaw the firm's growth in assets under management from $10 billion to $70 billion and also had responsibility for Bain Capital's global human resources, legal activities, investor relations, and information technology.  He succeeds Dennis M. Weibling, who has served as the firm's Interim Chief Financial Officer since December 2015.  A member of Sotheby's Board of Directors since 2006, Mr. Weibling was previously the Chair of the Board's Audit Committee.

"I am thrilled to welcome Mike to Sotheby's. His wealth of experience and leadership at the most senior levels of global finance and business, particularly his previous role as the CFO of publicly-traded companies, will be invaluable to Sotheby's," said Tad Smith, Sotheby's President and Chief Executive Officer. "I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dennis Weibling for his service and support and look forward to continuing to work with him in his position on Sotheby's Board of Directors."

"I am excited to be joining the very talented team at Sotheby's and look forward to contributing to the company's very bright future," commented Mr. Gross.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Goss, worked as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Playtex Products and Digitas, Inc., both of which were public companies. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in economics from Kansas State University.