(Bloomberg) -- Best Buy Co.'s promotion of Corie Barry to chief executive officer is both a rarity for a sitting chief financial officer -- and a positive sign for the rising number of women who are taking on finance jobs at the largest U.S. companies.
See Story: Best Buy Promotes CFO Barry to CEO Role; Joly to Head Board
Barry, who turns 44 this week, will take over for Hubert Joly, 59, at Best Buy after the company's June board meeting. Only about 7 percent of CEOs were in the top financial role immediately beforehand, according to 2018 data from Crist Kolder Associates. About 75 percent of CEOs were elevated from general management roles, such as division president and chief operating officer.
Barry's promotion to CEO may be good news for female CFOs. The number of women in charge of finance among the S&P 500 and Fortune 500 rose to 84 in 2018, an all-time high, according to Crist Kolder data.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Green in Southfield, Michigan at jgreen16@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Janet Paskin at jpaskin@bloomberg.net, Jonathan Roeder, Kevin Miller
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