Juul replaces CFO in big shakeup
CEO Crossthwaite calls moves part of a ‘reset’ of e-cigarette industry
Juul Labs launched a new round of executive changes Tuesday, as the embattled ecigarette maker said it has replaced its chief financial officer and several other top leaders ahead of an expected round of employee layoffs.
The most-notable departure is Juul’s Chief Financial Officer, Tim Danaher, who spent the last five years running the company’s finance operations. Also stepping down are Chief Administrative Officer Ashley Gould, Chief Marketing Officer Craig Bommers, and senior vice president of advanced technologies David Foster.
In a statement given to this news organization, San Francisco-based Juul said the executives, “asked to transition out of the company.”
Danaher will be replaced as CFO by Guy Cartwright, who joined the company in another capacity in July. Juul is eliminating its chief marketing officer position, and the future of the other two positions remains undecided.
The moves come barely a month after K.C. Crossthwaite took over as Juul’s
chief executive from Kevin Burns. Crossthwaite said in a statement that the changes were made as the e-cigarette industry “undergoes a necessary reset.” The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Juul intends to cut 500 jobs by the end of the year.
That reset involves Juul previously saying it will stop selling fruit-flavored vaping devices and cease advertising its products in the United States.
“This reorganization will help Juul Labs focus on reducing underage use, investing in scientific research, and creating new technologies while earning a license to operate in the U.S. and around the world,” Crossthwaite said.
Juul is under fire from several sides for what some say is its efforts to market its products to minors. The Trump Administration has said it will move to ban all but traditional
tobacco-flavored cigarettes in the United States, and last week, Gould, the former chief administrative officer, was questioned before Congress about an outreach program Juul ran to send its company representatives into some American schools.
As part of Tuesday’s changes, Juul also said that Joe Murillo, its chief regulatory officer, will now oversee all of the company’s government affairs, corporate responsibility and clinical and scientific affair operations. Murillo will be responsible for preparing and filing an application with the Food and Drug Administration to allow the company to keep selling e-cigarettes. The FDA requires all companies who want to stay in the e-cigarette business to submit their products for review by May 2020.