- After about three and a half years in the position
- Praise, thanks and good wishes for Fandozzi
- Jim Kessler taking over
(exechange) — Westchester, Illinois, August 2, 2023 — Ann Fandozzi, chief executive of RB Global, leaves her position. As announced by RB Global Inc. in a news release on Wednesday, August 2, 2023, Ann Fandozzi leaves her post as chief executive officer at the industrial equipment auctioneer, after about three and a half years in the role, effective immediately.
Ann Fandozzi’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Jim Kessler, most recently President and Chief Operating Officer at RB Global Inc.
“Departure”
RB Global, formerly known as Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc., said: “RB Global, Inc. (NYSE: RBA) (TSX: RBA) today announced the appointment of Jim Kessler, most recently the Company’s President and Chief Operating Officer, as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Kessler will also join RB Global’s Board of Directors. Megan Cash, most recently Senior Vice President, Global Control and Corporate Finance, has been appointed Principal Finance and Accounting Officer. These appointments are effective immediately and follow the departures of Ann Fandozzi and Eric Jacobs as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, respectively.”
“Ms. Fandozzi was unwilling to accept any pay package that was not front-loaded”
The management change is explained as follows. RB Global stated: “The changes follow extensive negotiations with Ms. Fandozzi regarding an appropriate executive compensation structure. In the course of these discussions, Ms. Fandozzi required that, in order for her to continue as CEO, the Board needed to approve a front-loaded compensation program that would bring forward 5-years of equity compensation. The Board unanimously determined that such structure and the magnitude of the associated payout reaches far beyond peer group benchmarks, is out of step with market standards and is not in the best interests of the Company or RB Global shareholders. Although the Board attempted to work with Ms. Fandozzi in good faith on this matter, Ms. Fandozzi was unwilling to accept any pay package that was not front-loaded and informed the Board of her decision to resign.”
Precise information regarding Ann Fandozzi’s future plans was not immediately available.
“Unrelated to the Company’s performance, financial reporting and results of operations”
RB Global stated, regarding the change: “RB Global noted that Ms. Fandozzi’s and Mr. Jacobs’ departures are unrelated to the Company’s performance, financial reporting and results of operations.”
Share price increase since January 2020
The announcement follows an increase in RB Global Inc.’s share price of 51% since January 2020. January 2020 is the month in which Fandozzi’s tenure as CEO began.
In the position of CEO since 2020
Ann Fandozzi became CEO of the Company in 2020.
Ann Fandozzi joined Ritchie Bros. in 2020 as Chief Executive Officer.
Prior to joining Ritchie Bros., Fandozzi was CEO of ABRA Auto Body and Glass from 2016 to 2019, and previous to that role, from 2012 to 2016, was CEO of vRide, a carpooling platform that works with private and public employers.
Prior to these CEO roles, Fandozzi served in several executive positions for Whirlpool, including eBusiness, Direct-to-Consumer, and Sears/Kenmore.
Fandozzi joined Whirlpool from DaimlerChrysler, where she led the Global Family Vehicle business and is credited with the invention and development of the Stow-N-Go fold flat seats.
Earlier in her career, she gained significant experience in consumer marketing, product development and engineering at Ford Motor Company, McKinsey & Company and Lockheed Martin Corporation.
She served on the board of Pinnacle Foods, a publicly-traded packaged food company that was acquired by ConAgra, and is a board member of Ghost Robotics, a robotics start-up.
Fandozzi is also a frequent speaker on technology, transportation, and green/environmental topics.
Fandozzi holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, a Master of Science degree in Systems Engineering from University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
No statement by Ann Fandozzi
In the news release announcing her departure as CEO of RB Global Inc., Ann Fandozzi received praise, thanks and good wishes.
The announcement of her departure as CEO does not include a statement by Ann Fandozzi.
Push-out Score for Ann Fandozzi’s move determined
The Push-out Score indicates on a scale from 0 to 10 how likely it is that Ann Fandozzi was pushed out or felt pressure to leave her position.
exechange reached out to RB Global and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 32.2023 ($).