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Fortune 500 Power Moves
Galagher Jeff, EVP and CFO of Murphy USA Inc. (No. 231 ) has departed the company, effective Oct. 14, and the company made the announcement on Oct. 17. Jeff’s exit was not the result of any disagreement regarding the company’s operations, financial performance, or condition, according to an SEC filing. Donald R. Smith Jr., the company’s current VP, chief accounting officer and treasurer, will serve as interim CFO. Smith has been with Murphy USA since its 2013 spin-off from Murphy Oil Corporation, initially serving as VP and controller.
Every Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.
More notable moves this week:
Earl Ellis was appointed CFO of Panera Bread, a fast-casual restaurant chain. Ellis most recently served as EVP and CFO at ABM Industries. During his tenure, he led global finance, accounting, investor relations, and procurement, helped shape the company's strategic plan, and executed a multi-year transformation including ERP modernization. Before ABM, Ellis held senior finance leadership roles at Best Buy, including CFO of Best Buy Canada and SVP of finance in the U.S., Canadian Tire, Campbell Soup Company, Kraft Foods, and Coca-Cola.
Seun Sodipo was appointed CFO at Plaid, a fintech startup that connects financial institutions. Sodipo succeeds Eric Hart, who has returned to Expedia Group. Previously, she served as CFO at Glossier. Before that, Sodipo was head of product finance and strategy at payment service provider Stripe. She began her career in investment banking at Centerview Partners and later worked as a private equity investor at Helios Investment Partners and Insignia Capital Group.
Steve Shinn was appointed VP and CFO of The Aerospace Corporation (Aerospace), effective Oct. 20. Shinn recently served as acting CFO at NASA during the presidential transition. Shinn held increasingly responsible roles over the course of his 15-year career at NASA, including deputy CFO, deputy CFO for center operations, and CFO at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Before that, he was responsible for all business and project control functions and the annual business planning for the space department at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
John Brenton was promoted to CFO of Nano Dimension Ltd. (Nasdaq: NNDM), a digital manufacturing solutions company, effective Nov. 1. He will succeed Assaf Zipori, who is stepping down from the role. Brenton currently serves as VP of global finance and corporate controller and brings more than 30 years of experience in finance, accounting, and corporate control. He spent approximately five years at Markforged, joining Nano Dimension following its acquisition of the company, where he held senior finance leadership positions.
D. Anthony Scaglione was appointed CFO of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO), effective Jan. 1. He will succeed Steve Kinsey, who will retire from Flowers at year-end. Scaglione has previously served as CFO for Total Wine & More, a retailer specializing in wine, spirits, and beer; ODP Corporation, a global B2B office equipment and services company; and ABM Industries, a global services company. His leadership experience also spans strategy, real estate, procurement, M&A, and IT.
Melissa Van Huss was promoted to CFO of Luttrell Staffing Group, effective October 2025. Van Huss joined the organization in 2020. She was most recently the controller and previously served as director of finance. Before joining Luttrell, Van Huss worked as an auditor for a regional public accounting firm for seven years.
Ram Paudel was promoted to CFO of KeyData Cyber, an identity and access management provider. Previously serving as VP of finance, Paudel has been a member of the executive leadership team for the past seven years. He joined KeyData Cyber in October 2018 as financial controller.
Big Deal
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management's quarterly retail investor pulse survey, released this week, finds that inflation concerns persist. Almost half of investors expect inflation to moderate this quarter; however, it continues to be their top concern (45%). Tariffs and market volatility remain the top two and three concerns, respectively.
Another finding is that more investors believe rate cuts are on the horizon. Over two in five investors (41%) think the Fed will cut rates by 0–0.25% at the next meeting—up 12 percentage points from last quarter, according to the report.
[caption id="attachment_4348345" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Courtesy of Morgan Stanley[/caption]
Going deeper
Here are four Fortune weekend reads:
"Trump shutting down trade talks with Canada could give Beijing another advantage" by Eleanor Pringle
"CEO of IT firm with 350K workers says AI will create more entry level jobs—and he’s recruiting liberal arts graduates" by Diane Brady
"The Fed just lost a key data feed on the job market days before its next rate meeting. A former BLS chief warns it’s ‘very concerning’ as Powell is left ‘flying blind’" by Eva Roytburg
"Facebook cofounder says being a CEO was ‘exhausting’—like 82% of bosses he never intended to manage people" by Orianna Rosa Royle
Overheard
"Five years ago, I predicted that 95% of internet content would be AI-generated by 2025. It’s hard to measure where we are exactly, but we’ll get close to that in the coming years."
—Victor Riparbelli, CEO and co-founder of Synthesia, writes in a Fortune opinion piece.