Weekender Digest
WEEKLY EDITION BY MARINA MOUKA
Welcome to your latest CFO's Weekend Digest, your go-to source for the week’s top insights and updates tailored for financial leaders.
◼ BAT’s CFO exits suddenly, raising questions as markets digest the timing and impact.
◼ OpenAI’s CFO is rewriting the finance playbook with a trillion-dollar bet on compute.
◼ WHSmith’s £30m error hits Greggs’ boardroom, as governance risks ripple through the FTSE.
TOP LONG WEEKEND READS
NEWS
British American Tobacco CFO Soraya Benchikh has stepped down with immediate effect, just over a year after rejoining the company. Interim CFO Javed Iqbal steps in as a formal search begins. While BAT says it’s on track financially, the abrupt nature of the exit has unsettled investors and markets alike.
NEWS ANALYSIS
OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar is overseeing one of the boldest bets in corporate finance: a trillion-dollar investment in custom-built data centres. The strategy prioritises control, efficiency, and long-term market dominance, reshaping not just tech infrastructure but the CFO role itself. Debt markets, new instruments, and independence from cloud giants are key.
NEWS ANALYSIS
A £30m accounting error at WHSmith has wiped £600m off its value and delayed a CFO-linked board appointment at Greggs. With Deloitte launching a forensic review, investors and boardrooms are on high alert. The case spotlights how financial missteps in one firm can rattle governance across the corporate landscape.
MORE THAN A NEWSLETTER
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