Shopify Announces Changes in Top Leadership

Text size

Shopify

announced a new chief financial officer and chief operating officer on Thursday, a little less than two months after it reported disappointing second quarter earnings and plans for layoffs.

Earlier this summer,

Shopify

(ticker: SHOP) said that it planned on cutting about 10% of its workforce amid a tough macroeconomic environment. Then, the Canadian e-commerce company reported a wider-than-expected loss for its second quarter and indicated losses will increase in the third quarter.

On Thursday, Shopify said Jeff Hoffmeister will be its next CFO. Hoffmeister will succeed Amy Shapero, who is stepping down following the company’s third quarter 2022 earnings announcement on Oct. 27. Hoffmeister is coming to Shopify from

Morgan Stanley
,
where he was a part of the bank’s Technology Investment Banking group.

Vice President of Product, Kaz Nejatian, has been promoted to COO, effective immediately. Nejatian succeeds Toby Shannan, who is retiring from his role and is expected to join Shopify’s board of directors at the beginning of 2023.

Citi analyst Tyler Radke wrote on Thursday that the news is “especially surprising given CFO Shapero presented at our conference just yesterday.”

“While new CFO Hoffmeister’s investment background doesn’t appear to be an obvious choice given the consumer/creative/design focus of the company and CEO Lutke’s style, we think it could be indicative of potentially more [mergers and acquisitions] and financial discipline going forward,” Radke wrote.

Baird analyst Colin Sebastian wrote in a research note Thursday that he doesn’t believe the management transition will be “too disruptive.” He also wrote that he views these changes “as reflecting new challenges and opportunities for Shopify, and perhaps tapping different skillsets for the next stages of growth.”

Shares of Shopify were up 1.5% Thursday to $31.43. The stock has sank 77% in 2022.

Write to Angela Palumbo at [email protected]