Snap exodus continues: CFO out after less than a year
CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 1/15/2019, 8:36 p.m.
By Heather Kelly, CNN Business
(CNN) -- Snap is losing another high-profile executive. Chief Financial Officer Tim Stone told Snap on Tuesday that he was leaving the company, just eight months after moving to Snap from Amazon.
The departure comes at a difficult time for the company, which has been struggling with a declining user base and falling stock. Snap has seen an exodus of executives over the last year, including human resources chief, Jason Halbert — who left earlier this week. Vice President of Marketing Steve LaBella and Chief Strategy Officer Imran Khan departed the company last year. Other executives who exited in 2018 include Chief Financial Officer Drew Vollero — Stone's predecessor — and Vice President of Product Tom Conrad.
Snap also confirmed its vice president of investor relations, Kristin Southey, left the company in November — as first reported by Cheddar.
Snap (SNAP) stock fell more than 7% during after-hours trading.
Stone moved to Snap in May, after working at Amazon for 20 years. He had a $500,000 a year salary at the social app company, and $20 million in restricted stock, with an option to buy 500,000 common shares. Stone will not get the majority of the stock components, which were scheduled to vest over four years.
Snap has bet on multiple Amazon executives to help stabilize the company. It hired Amazon's head of advertising, Jeremi Gorman, and Amazon France's public policy director, Jean Gonie, in October. In an investor note Tuesday morning before the announcement, Barclays said, "The ex-Amazon C-suite is likely to have a solid impact in 2019, a long overdue shift to more stable execution."
In an email to employees provided by Snap, CEO Evan Spiegel said that Stone was leaving to pursue other opportunities, and that he will remain at the company through February 5 to help with the transition. Spiegel said in the letter and in an SEC filing that the departure was not related to any disagreement with the company related to its accounting, management or similar issues.
"Tim has made a big impact in his short time on our team and we are very grateful for all of his hard work," said Spiegel in the email. "I know we have all benefited from his customer focus and the way he has encouraged all of us to operate as owners."