Apple has announced that Peter Oppenheimer (pictured), Apple’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, will retire at the end of September. Luca Maestri, Apple’s vice president of finance and corporate controller, will succeed him as CFO reporting to CEO Tim Cook. Oppenheimer will transition the CFO role to Maestri in June and the balance of his responsibilities over the remaining time.
"Peter has served as our CFO for the past decade as Apple’s annual revenue grew from $8 billion to $171 billion and our global footprint expanded dramatically. His guidance, leadership and expertise have been instrumental to Apple’s success, not only as our CFO but also in many areas beyond finance, as he frequently took on additional activities to assist across the company. His contributions and integrity as our CFO create a new benchmark for public company CFOs," said Cook in a press release. "Peter is also a dear friend I always knew I could count on. Although I am sad to see him leave, I am happy he is taking time for himself and his family. As all of us who know him would have expected, he has created a professional succession plan to ensure Apple doesn’t miss a beat."
Maestri has over 25 years of global experience in senior financial management, including roles as a public company CFO. "When we were recruiting for a corporate controller, we met Luca and knew he would become Peter’s successor. His contributions to Apple have already been significant in his time with us and he has quickly gained respect from his colleagues throughout the company," Cook said.
"I love Apple and the people I have had the privilege to work with and after 18 years here, it is time for me to take time for myself and my family," said Oppenheimer. "For quite some time, I have wanted to live on the central coast of California and get more involved at Cal Poly, my alma mater; spend more time with my wife and sons; travel to interesting parts of the world; and something I have wanted to do for years — finish the requirements for my pilot’s license."
As CFO, Oppenheimer oversees the controller, treasury, investor relations, tax, information systems, internal audit and facilities functions. He started with Apple in 1996 as controller for the Americas, and in 1997 was promoted to vice president and Worldwide Sales controller and then promoted to corporate controller prior to being named CFO. Oppenheimer also recently joined the board of directors of Goldman Sachs.
Maestri has over 25 years of experience building and leading finance teams in global companies. Prior to joining Apple, he was CFO at both Nokia Siemens Networks and Xerox. Since joining Apple in March 2013, Maestri has managed most of Apple’s financial functions.
He began his career with General Motors and spent 20 years in finance and operating roles in the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe. He was part of the team that established GM’s regional operations in Asia Pacific, including manufacturing investments in China and Thailand. Maestri was later CFO of the team that restructured operations in Brazil and Argentina and returned the region to profitability. His last role at GM was CFO for all of GM’s operations in Europe, which spanned over 45 countries with annual net revenue of approximately US$40 billion.
Maestri has lived and worked in Italy, Poland, Ireland, Switzerland, Singapore, Thailand, Brazil and Germany, as well as the U.S. He graduated from Luiss University in Rome with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and received a master’s degree in Science of Management from Boston University.