• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'

2

College-educated women are snapping up the highest-earning men without college degrees, leaving the rest further behind

3

An 11-year-old is cleaning his neighbors' trash cans for $10 each—he now has 100K followers as teens face the worst summer job market since 1948

1

The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'

2

College-educated women are snapping up the highest-earning men without college degrees, leaving the rest further behind

3

An 11-year-old is cleaning his neighbors' trash cans for $10 each—he now has 100K followers as teens face the worst summer job market since 1948
FinanceFinance

Exclusive: Wholesale marketplace unicorn Faire elevates CFO Lauren Cooks Levitan to president

Sheryl Estrada
By
Sheryl Estrada
Sheryl Estrada
Senior Writer and author of CFO Daily
Down Arrow Button Icon
Sheryl Estrada
By
Sheryl Estrada
Sheryl Estrada
Senior Writer and author of CFO Daily
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 1, 2024, 12:01 PM ET
Faire's Lauren Cooks Levitan
Faire's Lauren Cooks Levitan Courtesy of Faire
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

The uptick in CFO transitions this year continues. After five years as the first finance chief of the unicorn Faire, Lauren Cooks Levitan was promoted to president, and Jason Lee, currently VP of finance, will take on the CFO role in August.

Recommended Video

San Francisco-based Faire, is a wholesale marketplace that connects hundreds of thousands of independent, local retailers with global brands. Some of the product categories include food and beverages, apparel, home, and jewelry. Since its launch in 2017, the startup has raised over $1 billion from investors such as Sequoia Capital, Forerunner, Founders Fund, Y Combinator, Khosla Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Faire reported a $12.4 billion valuation in 2021. Chef David Chang’s popular specialty food brand Momofuku Goods is among the 100,000 brands available on Faire. It is also a recommended wholesale marketplace partner to Shopify. Faire has over 900 employees.

Levitan talked with Fortune on June 27, the same day she told her team about the transition. “I know they always thought of me as Faire’s CFO, but I never really thought of myself as that, exclusively,” she explained. “I’ve always seen my role as being a partner to the business, to the CEO, to the rest of the leadership team. I think of myself as a business leader first, and then the financial expert on the leadership team, second.”

As president, Levitan is expected to focus on driving new business development opportunities, globally, to impact customers and the company’s future. She’s already identified a few opportunities which the board has given a green light to pursue, she said. And Levitan’s new job as president will tap into her prior experiences.

She began her career on Wall Street as an equity capital markets analyst at Goldman Sachs. Levitan has more than 30 years of experience in retail. She joined Faire from a CFO role at Fanatics, a leader in licensed sports merchandise. Earlier in her career, she cofounded Moxie Capital LLC, a private equity firm, and built the consumer retail franchise of Cowen & Co., where she served as managing director and senior research analyst. 

Being strategic, Levitan understood that succession planning is a key responsibility for every leader. (However, as CFO turnover continues this year, succession planning has remained a struggle at some of the largest companies.)

“I hired Jason with the expectation that he had the potential to be the future CFO of Faire; he has perfect experience,” Levitan said. Lee potentially becoming CFO was something that was discussed during his recruitment, and “part of the way we were even able to persuade him to join Faire in the first place,” Levitan added.

Lee joined the company after spending over a decade leading finance for Square and investor relations for Block. And thanks to growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, with his parents starting an independent grocery business, he knows “firsthand the value local retail provides a community,” Lee said in a statement. 

In the first half of the year, Faire added Dan Hockenmaier as chief strategy officer and Thuan Pham as chief technology officer, and introduced the new chief architect role for Marcelo Cortes. Levitan says that the company has no plans for an IPO at this time. “But if at some point in the future, accessing the public markets is the right step for us to continue doing what’s best for our customers, we would do that,” she added.

About the Author
Sheryl Estrada
By Sheryl EstradaSenior Writer and author of CFO Daily
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Sheryl Estrada is a senior writer at Fortune, where she covers the corporate finance industry, Wall Street, and corporate leadership. She also authors CFO Daily.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Finance

Kospi index and U.S. stock futures jump as new Hormuz talks send oil prices plunging amid Iran war pause while Wall Street awaits Fed meeting
Economytech stocks
Kospi index and U.S. stock futures jump as new Hormuz talks send oil prices plunging amid Iran war pause while Wall Street awaits Fed meeting
By Jason MaJuly 26, 2026
3 hours ago
Mideast oil may soon have no way out amid ‘everything everywhere all at once’ wars, but the crisis in refined products is even worse
Middle EastOil
Mideast oil may soon have no way out amid ‘everything everywhere all at once’ wars, but the crisis in refined products is even worse
By Jason MaJuly 26, 2026
7 hours ago
Traders are getting a new tool to wager on the biggest U.S. stocks
Investingstock trading
Traders are getting a new tool to wager on the biggest U.S. stocks
By Bernard Goyder, Katherine Doherty and BloombergJuly 26, 2026
9 hours ago
Big Tech earnings slam into a market in revolt over AI spending
Big Techearnings
Big Tech earnings slam into a market in revolt over AI spending
By Jeran Wittenstein, Ryan Vlastelica and BloombergJuly 26, 2026
9 hours ago
The U.S. and Iran pause attacks on each other for a second straight day while Tehran continues talks with Oman over Hormuz
EnergyIran
The U.S. and Iran pause attacks on each other for a second straight day while Tehran continues talks with Oman over Hormuz
By Samy Magdy, Cara Anna and The Associated PressJuly 26, 2026
12 hours ago
Nuclear regulators want to eliminate a foundational safety principal that seeks to keep radiation exposure ‘as low as reasonably achievable’
EnergyNuclear Power
Nuclear regulators want to eliminate a foundational safety principal that seeks to keep radiation exposure ‘as low as reasonably achievable’
By Jennifer McDermott and The Associated PressJuly 26, 2026
13 hours ago

Most Popular

The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
Real Estate
The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 25, 2026
2 days ago
College-educated women are snapping up the highest-earning men without college degrees, leaving the rest further behind
Economy
College-educated women are snapping up the highest-earning men without college degrees, leaving the rest further behind
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 26, 2026
18 hours ago
An 11-year-old is cleaning his neighbors' trash cans for $10 each—he now has 100K followers as teens face the worst summer job market since 1948
Success
An 11-year-old is cleaning his neighbors' trash cans for $10 each—he now has 100K followers as teens face the worst summer job market since 1948
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 25, 2026
2 days ago
Trump pulls back after Iran crosses his red line as U.S. military breaks two-week streak of airstrikes amid talks for potential Hormuz deal
Middle East
Trump pulls back after Iran crosses his red line as U.S. military breaks two-week streak of airstrikes amid talks for potential Hormuz deal
By Jason MaJuly 25, 2026
1 day ago
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
Economy
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
By Eleanor PringleJuly 24, 2026
3 days ago
I've been teaching college students for decades. Most of them can no longer finish a book
Commentary
I've been teaching college students for decades. Most of them can no longer finish a book
By Austin SaratJuly 26, 2026
18 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.