India's Dhivya Suryadevara appointed first woman CFO of General Motors
Indian-American woman, Dhivya Suryadevara, has been named the Chief Finance Officer (CFO) of the US's largest automaker, General Motors. 39-year-old Suryadevara, who has been the Vice-President of corporate finance since July 2017, will succeed Chuck Stevens, the GM's current CFO, on September 1. Chennai-born Suryadevara will report to CEO Mary Barra, 56, who has been head of the automaker since 2014. Here's more.
Barra, Suryadevara first women in CEO, CFO positions in auto-industry
Barra and Suryadevara are the first women in their respective positions in the auto industry, as no other major global automaker has a female CEO, nor a CEO and CFO who are both females. GM will join a very short list of S&P 500 companies, including Hershey Co. and American Water Works Co., with women serving as CEO and CFO.
Suryadevara's background
Suryadevara earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in commerce from the University of Madras in Chennai. She moved to the US at the age of 22 to pursue her MBA from Harvard University. She is a chartered financial analyst and accountant and worked at UBS and PricewaterhouseCoopers before joining the Detroit-based General Motors in 2005 at the age of 25.
All about Stevens who will retire as CFO in 2019
Stevens, 58, will retire in March 2019 as GM's over 40-year veteran. He will remain with the company as an adviser until his retirement. Stevens began his career at the Buick division in 1978. He had a key role in GM establishing its joint venture in China and was a crucial player in GM selling its long-struggling Opel business to French automaker PSA Group.
