The chief financial officer of Sears, Roebuck and Co. has been wooed away by Monsanto Co., leaving another hole in the management team crafted by Chief Executive Arthur Martinez.
Gary L. Crittenden will become the fourth high-ranking Sears executive to depart in the past nine months. Crittenden was “a valued member” of Sears’ executive committee, a group of top officers that advises Martinez, said Sears spokeswoman Paula Davis.
With his experience in strategic consulting, operating business units and number crunching, Crittenden was considered by many to be in the running to succeed Martinez when he retires.
Crittenden will become chief financial officer of St. Louis-based Monsanto, a giant in the pharmaceuticals and agribusiness fields, effective Sept. 1.
The timing of his move may seem puzzling because Monsanto hopes to complete its merger with American Home Products Corp. by the end of the year. American Home’s chief financial officer, Robert G. Blount, already has been named chief financial officer of the as-yet-unnamed combined company.
But several people knowledgeable about the merger plans said Crittenden’s appointment actually meshes neatly with longer-term succession planning, suggesting that he will succeed Blount in short order.
At Sears, however, Crittenden’s departure is further evidence of what some are calling a revolving door at the retailer’s Hoffman Estates headquarters.
Crittenden has only been Sears chief financial officer since December, when his predecessor, Alan Lacy, was moved over to head the retailer’s troubled credit card unit. Crittenden previously had been president of Sears’ fast-growing hardware store division and, before that, executive vice president of strategic business planning.
Sears said Thursday that Lacy again will assume chief financial officer duties, in addition to his credit card job, until someone is hired to permanently replace Crittenden. “He (Lacy) knows the job well,” Davis said.
In May, Michael D. Levin, head of Sears’ legal department, resigned unexpectedly to return to private practice after only two years at the retailer. Sears said Levin’s departure was not related to an expensive scandal that erupted in 1997 when Sears revealed it had been illegally collecting debts from bankrupt Sears credit card holders for more than a decade.
In March, Anthony Rucci resigned as Sears’ head of administration to take the top human resources job at mutual fund leader Fidelity Investments. Sears said the move had nothing to do with an unpopular decision under Rucci’s regime to retroactively reduce life insurance benefits for 80,000 Sears retirees.
And last December, Steven D. Goldstein, president of Sears’ credit division, resigned to start his own business. At the time, Martinez vigorously denied Goldstein’s departure was connected with rising losses from bad credit card debt.
“A revolving door at the executive level does not augur well for the long-term continuity of any business,” said Everett Buckardt, the former head of the Sears Catalog and a critic of Martinez’s management style.
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At first glance, American Home Products is considered the dominant partner in the merger with Monsanto, announced in June. The combined company will be based in Madison, N.J., the drug and consumer-products company’s home. The chairman and chief executives of the two companies–Monsanto’s Robert B. Shapiro and American Home’s John R. Stafford–will share the top job.
Other executive jobs and board seats also have been doled out, including the chief financial officer position to Blount.
But Blount and Stafford are in their early 60s, and the latter last year underwent prostate surgery. Both are expected to retire after a transition of a year or two, noted several people familiar with the deal. That would leave Shapiro, who just turned 60, alone in the top job for several years.
Insiders say the hiring of Crittenden, 45, is part of Shapiro’s plans to craft his own management team–and succession.
“He has told Crittenden that `You will become the CFO . . . at the right time. If that doesn’t happen, you will be an operating guy, but you will clearly have the opportunity to succeed me as CEO,’ ” said one source familiar with the deal.
An analyst who researches both companies said Crittenden’s hiring shouldn’t be read as an intention by Shapiro to grab power immediately.
“It would be almost irresponsible of John Stafford and Bob Blount to just walk away immediately from the American Home perspective. They have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders,” said one analyst, who asked not to be named.
Crittenden likely jumped at the Monsanto job because “it’s going to be a huge opportunity,” the analyst said. Another analyst noted that it shows foresight for Shapiro to have a younger candidate being trained for the job.
On the other hand, several analysts and insiders said that Shapiro is almost certain to want to consolidate his power once he is alone at the top. There has been speculation that, once he is in control, Shapiro will move the headquarters out of New Jersey.
Crittenden, who could not be reached for comment, also will work from the Chicago office, Monsanto said.
Crittenden will act as chief financial officer of Monsanto, succeeding Robert B. Hoffman, who had declared his intention to retire before the merger was announced. Monsanto spokeswoman Lori J. Fisher said the company decided to fill the job, despite the impending merger, because “we need to focus on a couple of things driving some short-term business results for Monsanto shareholders.”
She said Crittenden also will have a role “in helping plan and design the new company.”