Airbnb snags Blackstone CFO Tosi
Move reinforces power shift from Wall St. to Silicon Valley
Yet another financial executive is leaving “the street” for sunny Silicon Valley.
Hedge fund and private equity giant Blackstone said its CFO, Laurence Tosi, is resigning to work for San Francisco start-up Airbnb.
Tosi has been Blackstone’s CFO since 2008, shortly after the firm, which manages $333 billion in assets, started selling its shares to the public.
Tosi, who steps down on Aug. 7, will be replaced by Michael Chae, Blackston’e head of international private equity, Blackstone said.
The move comes as Airbnb finalizes a round of funding that is expected to value the start-up at $25 billion — or greater than the value of many hotel chains, including the $20 billion Marriott International.
Only Hilton Worldwide, at $26.4 billion, remains larger than Airbnb.
A CFO with Wall Street connections and experience running a publicly traded company could help if it decides to sell its own shares on the public market.
The move also reinforces a power shift away from Wall Street and toward Silicon Valley, which has been wooing talent from large financial companies because of its impressive growth — and paychecks to match.
In March, Morgan Stanley’s CFO Ruth Porat left for Google, where she is on track to earn $70 million, well above the $14.8 million she earned at the storied investment bank.
Pay on Wall Street has suffered since the meltdown saddled banks with soured mortgage assets and increased government oversight. Last year, the average Wall Street bonus ticked up 2% to $172,860, down from a high of $191,360 in 2006, and $177,830 in 2007.
Tosi and Porat join Anthony Noto of Goldman Sachs who went to Twitter in July 2014, as well as Imran Khan of Credit Suisse, who left for messaging app Snapchat in December.
The move comes as Airbnb finalizes a round of funding that is expected to value the start-up at $25 billion — or greater than the value of many hotel chains.