Dive Brief:

• Zero emission vehicle maker Nikola Corp. has promoted Anastasiya "Stasy" Pasterick, current vice President, corporate controller, to the CFO seat, effective April 7, the company announced Monday. 
• Pasterick, 36, succeeds Kim J. Brady who is set to step down from the role on April 7 as well. He has served as CFO since 2017.
• The leadership change comes soon after the company unveiled a new energy brand, HYLA, which will encompass the company's energy products for producing, distributing and dispensing hydrogen to fuel its zero-emissions trucks. “Stasy's proven financial acumen and attention to detail are the capabilities the company needs now,” said Michael Lohscheller, president and CEO, in the statement.

Dive Insight:

The Phoenix-based startup and maker of battery-electric semi trucks reported disappointing earnings in the last quarter of 2022 — a net loss per share of $0.46 for the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, 2022 — and also came up short of promised delivered vehicles despite being given a previous guidance cut, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Pasterick will also be principal financial and accounting officer, in addition to her CFO duties. She will receive an annual salary of $450,000 and has declined participation in any annual cash bonus program provided by the company, according to the filing. 

The startup EV maker’s C-suite has been shaken up in recent years.

Nikola’s former CEO Trevor Milton voluntarily resigned in September of 2020. Milton was later found guilty on several counts of fraud relating to false statements he made to drive up the value of Nikola’s stock.

Mark Russell then took over as CEO following Milton’s exit, but Russell departed from the company earlier this year. Lohscheller joined Nikola in February of 2022 and was previously the CEO at Opel, a German automaker. 

Nikola’s newly-minted finance chief started her career at KPMG in 2008 as an audit manager. She then went on to take the role of director of accounting operations at Erickson, an aerospace component manufacturing company, for one year. Pasterick was then corporate controller of nLight, a leading provider of high-power semiconductor and fiber lasers, before joining Nikola in 2019, according to her LinkedIn profile. 

Also this week, Hertz Global Holdings announced its chief accounting officer Alexandra Brooks will take over as CFO following the departure of Kenny Cheung, effective April 1. 

Cheung is a four-year veteran of the rental car company and is leaving for the same role at Sysco, a global foodservice distribution company. 

Hertz and Nikola are in good company when it comes to promoting internal team members to the financial helm. Food supplier Cargill also elevated its previous interim to a permanent seat about a month following the interim appointment, CFO Dive previously reported.