Boardroom Insight

Consulting Sector News and Trends

Star CFO to lead financial ops at EY’s consulting spinoff  

The multibillion-dollar consulting company that is expected to spin out of EY in the coming years has a new CFO: Jamie Miller, a seasoned financial executive with serious operator credentials.

EY generated $45.4 billion in revenue last year. That money came primarily from two business units, one of which provides financial auditing to big companies while the other offers various types of consulting services.

EY plans to spin off the consulting-focused business unit into a standalone publicly traded company. That’s the company Jamie Miller will be joining as CFO.

EY has already set aside $2.5 billion for the consulting company to help it buy competitors and expand into new markets. But the spinoff is not a done deal yet: EY’s partners, who are at once its top executives and shareholders, still need to sign off on the transaction.

The appointment of Miller to the CFO post should give executives in favor of the deal more confidence to back it.

Miller was previously the top financial executive at Cargill, the largest privately-held company in the U.S. when measured by revenue. Cargill is an agricultural company that also has a footprint in many other markets including the financial sector.

Before Cargill, Miller worked at another company that has a habit of standing out on resumes: GE. She held numerous senior roles at GE including CFO and Chief Information Officer, having at one point also served as the CEO of the company’s transportation business.

That Miller has experience running not only corporate finances but also day-to-day business operations is a major asset for EY’s consulting spinoff. Because CFOs control their companies’ budget, they have a big say in key business decisions, which it’s means having a strong operations background can be a big help.

The fact Miller’s career spanned multiple key verticals including agriculture, industrial hardware and transportation will also be an asset for EY’s consulting spinoff. Multinational consultancies have clients in many different industries, so it’s helpful for the executive team to have a strong knowledge of each sector’s nuances.

Miller is the first of several senior executive appointments that EY plans to announce for its consulting spinoff. The other hires will be named over the coming weeks. 

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