Walt Disney (DIS.N) strengthened top boss Bob Iger’s hand as he attempts to turn around the media behemoth suffering a slump in its cable business and investor pressure on Monday by appointing PepsiCo (PEP.O) veteran Hugh Johnston as its chief financial officer.
Johnston, 61, will join Disney on December 4. He already sits on the boards of Microsoft (MSFT.O) and HCA Healthcare (HCA.N).
Disney’s stock was slightly up in premarket trade, while PepsiCo’s shares were down 1%.
He is credited for increasing sales at the company that makes Doritos from $58 billion in 2010 to almost $86 billion last year.
According to PepsiCo, Johnston was departing the company after 34 years of employment, during which he served as its CFO for more than ten years.
The CFO of PepsiCo’s North American division, Jamie Caulfield, will succeed Johnston.
Disney announced in June that Christine McCarthy, the previous CFO, had left her role.
