Dive Brief:

• Salesforce President and CFO Amy Weaver will step into the CEO role for humanitarian aid provider Direct Relief, effective May 5, the company said in a Friday press release. The announcement follows approximately a month after Salesforce announced it would be combining its CFO and chief operating officer roles — a decision coming after Weaver informed the company of her intent to depart in August, according to a company filing at the time.
• Robin Washington, who presently serves on Salesforce’s board of directors, will step into the newly-created “COFO” role effective March 21, CFO Dive previously reported. In the combined role, Washington will succeed Weaver and will step in on the operational side for Salesforce COO Brian Millham, who will retire from his position after a 25-year career at the company.
• Weaver’s departure from the software provider occurs as Salesforce leans into the growing “Agentic AI” trend, having launched a suite of agents aimed at helping employees perform workforce tasks, CFO Dive previously reported.

Dive Insight:

Salesforce’s decision to combine its CFO and COO roles is part of a growing trend, as more CFOs absorb operational responsibilities at their organizations. As well as Salesforce, payments giant PayPal announced its CFO, Jamie Miller, would take on the additional role of CFO and chief operating officer late last month.

Weaver’s appointment to the CEO seat at Direct Relief also comes at a time when more and more businesses are looking to finance chiefs — who are steadily becoming responsible for operations and strategy, as well as other areas such as IT and legal as well as finance — as potential successors to the CEO seat.  

While the percentage of CFOs who saw promotions to the CEO role dipped in 2024, overall, finance chiefs are becoming more common choices for CEOs, according to the latest Volatility report by Crist | Kolder Associates. The percentage of sitting CEOs who took the position directly from a CFO position was 7.4% last year, compared to 8.4% in 2023, according to the report.

“We are seeing CFO’s who have broad backgrounds such as Amy’s positioned to take the jump to CEO,” Josh Crist, co-managing partner for Crist | Kolder Associates, told CFO Dive via email. “We’ll see more of this, and companies are preparing for it as they add diverse responsibilities to their incumbent CFO’s remit.”

An attorney by training, Weaver already has experience in both legal and financial roles. She logged an 11-year tenure at the San Franscico, California-based Salesforce, serving in a variety of key executive roles, including as president and chief legal officer before taking on the role of president and CFO in June 2021, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Weaver began her career as a research associate for Harvard Business School, before serving as a Judicial Clerk in the U.S. Court of Appeals. She currently serves as a member of the board of directors for McDonalds.

A “longtime advocate for affordable housing and disaster response,” Weaver has also served on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity International and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Direct Relief said in its Friday press release.

“In selecting Amy, we sought a leader with the caliber, passion, and experience to guide Direct Relief through the accelerating scale and complexity of the humanitarian challenges that lie ahead,” Mark Linehan, chair of the board of directors for the non-profit, said in a letter to employees included in the Friday press release. “She is widely known for being a deeply strategic and deliberate thinker — a force for change who always puts people first.”

One of the country’s largest providers of humanitarian aid, Direct Relief — which operates in all 50 U.S. states as well as in 80 countries globally — the company distributed $1.8 billion, wholesale value, in medicine and supplies for its fiscal 2023, according to its annual report.

Weaver’s appointment follows after Direct Relief’s CEO, Thomas Tighe, announced he would step down from his role after a 24-year span as the non-profit’s top executive, according to a company press release. In January, the non-profit appointed Byran Scott — its interim COO — as interim CEO while it searched for a permanent successor, the company said.

Scott will transition back to the interim COO position once Weaver assumes the CEO role on May 4, “until the COO position has been filled and on-boarded to ensure a seamless and smooth transition,” the company said.

Direct Relief did not detail Weaver’s compensation as its incoming CEO in its Friday press release. For its fiscal 2023, former CEO Thomas Tighe received $652,610 in total compensation, comprised of a $605,893 base compensation, $14,500 in retirement and other deferred compensation and $32,217 in nontaxable benefits, according to the IRS Federal Form 990 for the year filed by the organization.  

For fiscal year 2024 as president and CFO for Salesforce, Weaver received total compensation of approximately $12.2 million, comprised of a $1 million base salary, $1 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation, and approximately $10.2 million in stock awards, according to the company’s latest proxy report.

“I love that Amy is moving into the non-profit sector. She’s clearly done very well, and has been very fulfilled, during her time in the corporate world,” Crist said when asked about Weaver’s move to the seat. “I love that she’s looking to do something that may be a passion play for her. That’s great.”