Flexport fires CFO and HR VP, but sees need for a head of restructuring

28/09/2023

News that Flexport has fired its CFO, Kenny Wagers, and is expected to cut more staff, will come as little surprise to the market.

Mr Wagers was told last week he was out, according to media reports, and will end his tenure at Flexport tomorrow.

He had quite a stellar career before joining Flexport two and a half years ago. He was CFO at FleetPride and spent a year as COO of XPO, as well as five years at Amazon as head of finance, worldwide transportation and logistics from 2013 to 2018, when Amazon was spending big on rolling out its logistics network. He also spent 17 years at UPS, becoming director for finance for global transportation.

However, he is now looking for a job again, while Flexport has appointed head of finance Stuart Leung as CFO. Mr Leung has been with Flexport for seven years, and is thought to be a trusted lieutenant of CEO Ryan Petersen. His previous experience was with two fashion-related companies, while he has also worked in private equity.

And there is another casualty – Jennifer Boden, VP for people, tech and employee experience. She has only been at the company for eight months having left Snap Inc. She also spent 12 years at Amazon.

Meanwhile, another former Amazon executive, Michael Brown, who joined Flexport in June 2021, is to become “head of restructuring and CEO initiatives” – reportedly in charge of Flexport becoming customer-centric and “returning to profitability”.

It is thought that more staff will go. In January, Flexport fired some 20% of its staff – although it was keen to note at the time that it was also hiring. Yesterday, it was revealed that it had invested in a start-up which promises to cut truck brokerage fees out of the logistics equation.

Flexport is not alone. As Loadstar Premium exclusively reports today, a major forwarder is cutting some 450 jobs, according to Premium sources.