Dive Brief:
- News Corp named Lavanya Chandrashekar — most recently the finance chief of the London-based beverage company Diageo — to replace the media firm’s outgoing CFO, Susan Panuccio, the company announced Thursday. Panuccio will step down on Jan. 1 from the role she has held since March 2017 to “take some much-desired time off to spend with my family,” she said in a statement included in the release.
- During Panuccio’s tenure the New York City-based News Corp said it transitioned to a diversified digital-and subscription-first business, expanded B2B at Dow Jones, added high-margin, content licensing revenues from tech platforms and saw its share price rise more than 140%. “Susan’s steadfast leadership, sharp instincts and strategic mindset have helped guide News Corp through a remarkable period of growth,” CEO Robert Thomson said.
- Under a three-year employment agreement with Chandrashekar, 52, which will begin Jan. 1, her compensation package will include an annual base salary of $1.4 million, an annual bonus with a target of $2.5 million and an annual long-term equity incentive with a target grant date value of $2.6 million, according to a regulatory filing. She will also receive a one-time equity bonus with a target grant date value of $2.6 million and a $500,000 payment to help with her relocation to the New York City metropolitan area.
Dive Insight:
Chandrashekar’s compensation is in keeping with CFO pay typically seen at a company of News Corp’s scale, Shawn Cole, president of boutique executive search firm Cowen Partners. In fiscal 2024 Panuccio’s compensation totaled $8.36 million, including a $1.7 million salary and $3.24 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation, according to a proxy filing.
While sign-on bonuses are often used to bridge a compensation gap by offering to cover bonuses a candidate might forfeit when leaving their previous role, Chandrashekar’s one-time bonus instead appears to be a “strong incentive to attract her to News Corp, aligning with the company’s retention goals and benefiting shareholders by securing executive talent,” Cole said in an email.
Bonuses given to incoming CFOs can vary widely. For example, Anat Ashkenazi, who took the finance reins of Google parent Alphabet, will receive an annual base salary of $1 million and a one-time sign-on bonus of $9.9 million in her new role, CFO Dive previously reported.
Chandrashekar’s tenure at Diageo ended in September, according to News Corp. In May Diageo announced that Coca-Cola veteran Nik Jhangiani would take her place.
Chandreshekar has nearly 30 years of experience in international finance and investor relations at major consumer-facing companies. She held the CFO seat at Diageo for more than three years and her other titles there included CFO of Diageo North America, according to her Linkedin profile.
She also spent four years at the Chicago-based multinational food and beverage company Mondelez International in such roles at vice president of finance, global cost leadership and supply chain. During 18 years at Procter & Gamble, her titles included finance head of Shave Care Western Europe and strategy leader for Gillette.
On Thursday the company reported net income for the fiscal first quarter ended Sept. 30 of $144 million, a 148% over the prior year period, as well as record first quarter revenue that rose 3% to $2.58 billion.
Higher margins in the company’s book publishing and news media businesses as well as lower expenses drove the company to beat consensus EBITDA estimates in the quarter, with circulation revenue up 1% YOY at The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, according to a Thursday report on the company from JPMorgan analysts.
News Corp did not respond to a request for comment.
