The Dearborn, Mich.-based automotive giant (no. 19 on the Fortune 500) announced on Friday that Sherry House, who most recently was CFO at electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors, is joining Ford as vice president of finance on June 3. House will succeed current CFO John Lawler in early 2025. She will be the first woman to become CFO of Ford Motor. 

Courtesy of Lucid Motors/PR Newswire

In a LinkedIn post on Friday, House wrote that 2024 is the “most important and interesting” time to be in the auto industry where work is “simultaneously complex, global, invigorating, and creative.” House also explained that in her career, she has experienced the “greatest professional satisfaction when having the opportunity to celebrate with the team after solving an immense problem or delivering a cutting edge product or service to a delighted customer…I’m excited to now contribute to the industry in a new role, through Ford.”

House added: “I’m also excited to return to my roots—to my home state of Michigan, and to a company where many of my early family members made their living, including my grandfather who was a tool and die maker at Ford for many years.”

Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement on Friday that House brings an important leadership dimension to the company that “urgently” aims to build a profitable EV business as well as generate new and recurring revenue streams.

House previously served as CFO at Lucid Motors from May 2021 until this past December. During her tenure, Lucid went public in July 2021, started producing and delivering its luxury EVs, and opened manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. 

Before joining Lucid, House held several senior leadership positions at the autonomous-driving technology company, Waymo. She also previously served two tenures at General Motors, first in product engineering, then corporate strategy, accounting, venture capital, and business planning and analysis.

As reflected in House’s new appointment, the percentage of women in CFO roles at large corporations continues to rise. Based on data from 674 Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies, last year, 18.5% of sitting CFOs were women, up from 10% in 2013, according to a volatility report from the executive search firm Crist Kolder Associates. 

House will succeed Lawler as he was promoted to the role of vice chair. In the position, he will lead Ford’s long-term strategy and liaise with leaders around the globe to advance industry-critical policy, according to the company. Lawler will begin that role on June 3, in addition to serving as finance chief until next year. He is one of the architects of the Ford+ plan, a customer-focused plan to grow and create value. CFO since 2020, he’s been with the company for almost 35 years.  

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

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Leaderboard

Steve Griffin was named EVP, CFO, and treasurer at Anika Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANIK), an early intervention orthopedics company, effective June 3. Griffin succeeds Michael Levitz, who has decided to step down as CFO after almost four years with the company. Levitz will remain with the company through Dec. 31. Griffin brings more than 15 years of experience. He most recently served as SVP and CFO at VSE Corporation. Before that, he spent over a decade at General Electric in positions including corporate audit, financial planning and analysis, and divisional CFO roles.

Kevin Fox was named CFO at Frontgrade Technologies, an independent supplier of electronic solutions for space and national security missions, effective immediately. Earlier this year, outgoing CFO Conrad Gagnon announced his intention to retire. Fox joins Frontgrade from his role as CFO at Thermon Group Holdings, Inc. He brings nearly 20 years of experience in corporate finance and strategy within the industrial manufacturing and transportation industries, which includes 13 years with General Electric.

Big Deal

The latest analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence finds that global private equity and venture capital deal values jumped 64.6% in April to $65.06 billion from $39.53 billion the same month a year earlier. The number of deals went down slightly to 968 from 1,025 deals in April 2023, according to the report. The research also found that in April, the U.S. and Canada posted the highest deal value at $47.72 billion, compared with $12.69 billion in the same month a year ago.

Going deeper

The 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer Supplemental Report: Insights for the Financial Services Sector, is a global study that showed a strong uptick in trust in financial services. Sixty-two percent of respondents said they trust financial services companies to “do the right thing.” For the first time since the global financial crisis, the financial services sector ranks in the “Trusted” category, according to the report. 

Overheard

“They’re the richest group we have around. They have the money; they have the time.”

Viking CEO Torstein Hagen, age 81, said in a recent interview on CNBC Squawk on the Street that the cruise line is tailored toward the baby boomer target audience.