Tiffany & Co. has announced that its chief financial officer, Patrick McGuiness, will be resigning on Nov. 27—a day after the company reports its third-quarter earnings, according to a regulatory filing submitted by the company on Nov. 15.
COO James Fernandez will serve as interim CFO until the company hires a replacement for McGuiness. Before being promoted to COO in 2011, Fernandez was Tiffany’s CFO from 1989.
The 8-K filing states that McGuiness is leaving to “seek employment elsewhere.” But he won’t be leaving empty-handed. Tiffany will pay him a $899,000 severance and a pro-rated portion of the bonus he would have received for the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2014. The deal stipulates that McGuiness can’t file any future lawsuits against the company (no claims are currently outstanding).
McGuiness was appointed senior vice president and CFO in June 2011, after holding various management positions in the company since 1990, including senior vice president of finance.
Tiffany declined to comment on the departure, but McGuiness’ exit comes on the heels of Tiffany hiring a new president (and board member), Frederic Cumenal, on Sept. 24. Cumenal came from the LVMH Group, where he was president and chief executive officer of Moet & Chandon, S.A.
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