Good morning. Lauren Cooks Levitan first joined the unicorn Faire as its inaugural CFO and then was promoted to president. After six years at the company, Levitan is stepping down from her executive operator role to join Faire’s board of directors, effective July 1. She’s launching a startup where she’ll serve as CEO.
“We built a really durable business that I’m extremely proud of,” she told me about her executive tenure at the online wholesale marketplace. She played a pivotal role in Faire’s evolution from a newcomer startup to a global platform, raising more than $1 billion from top investors. But she’ll continue to be a part of Faire’s story as a board member.
Based in San Francisco, Faire connects hundreds of thousands of independent local retailers with global brands across categories such as food and beverages, apparel, home goods, and jewelry, according to the company. Chef David Chang’s popular specialty food brand Momofuku Goods is among the brands. Led by CEO and cofounder Max Rhodes, the company was launched in 2017, backed by investors such as Sequoia Capital, Forerunner, and Founders Fund. As of late 2024, Faire is valued at $5 billion, according to reports.
From CFO to president to founder and CEO
Levitan joined Faire as its first CFO in 2019 and was promoted to president in 2024, a move that reflects a growing trend for finance chiefs. “Even as a CFO, I always saw my role as being a strategic thought partner to the leadership team and to the business,” she said.
There have been two common threads in Levitan’s professional life—a passion for consumer, retail, and e-commerce businesses—and supporting and helping scale up “the most interesting founder-led businesses,” she explained.
Levitan will channel her entrepreneurial energy into a new venture, cofounding and serving as CEO of a company called Root, which aims to innovate in building consumer businesses. “We expect that we’ll be able to announce more about it this summer,” she said.
I asked her why she thought it was the right time to move from an executive at Faire to a board member and focus on her own venture. The transition comes at a natural time for her, Levitan said.
“Our leadership team has matured along with the rapid growth of the business, and it’s really well positioned,” she said. Rather than naming a new president, Levitan’s former responsibilities will be shared among other leaders.
From a personal perspective, she is excited to pursue her own interests. “I think it’s an interesting moment in time to be building a business,” she said. She added that times of disruption are ideal for launching new ventures, as they present unique opportunities in today’s volatile and fast-changing business landscape.
Levitan pointed out another critical factor from her CFO background that will serve her going forward is “ruthless prioritization.” That includes capital-allocation decisions, how you spend your time and direct the team, and what businesses to pursue, she explained.
“I feel like transitioning into the cofounder and CEO role is leveraging all of those experiences that I built around ruthless prioritization as a growth company CFO for the better part of a decade,” she said.
Levitan began her career on Wall Street as an equity capital markets analyst at Goldman Sachs. She has more than 30 years of experience in retail. She joined Faire from a CFO role at Fanatics, a licensed sports merchandise provider. Earlier in her career, she cofounded Moxie Capital, a private equity firm. She also is currently a lead independent director on the board of e.l.f. Beauty.
Levitan shared advice that she still finds relevant, even later in her career—“Focus on continuously building skills and building relationships.”
Have a good weekend. See you on Monday.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Leaderboard
Some notable moves this week:
Rohini Jain was appointed CFO of BILL (NYSE: BILL), a financial operations platform for small and midsize businesses, effective July 7. John Rettig, currently CFO, will take on an expanded role as both president and chief operating officer. Rohini has more than 20 years of experience at global fintech, payments, and e-commerce companies, including PayPal, eBay, Walmart, and General Electric. She joins BILL from PayPal, most recently serving as CFO and SVP of PayPal’s Large Enterprise and Merchant platforms.
Kristy Chipman, CFO and treasurer of Five Below (Nasdaq: FIVE), a chain of specialty discount stores, is stepping down for personal reasons. COO Ken Bull will also take on the role of interim CFO as the company searches for a permanent replacement. Previously, Bull was CFO of Five Below for more than 10 years.
Tim Albury was appointed CFO of Konovo, a global healthcare intelligence company. Albury brings over 35 years of experience. Before joining Konovo, he served as CFO of AQuity Solutions and has also held CFO roles at ConcertAI, CALYX, Liquidia Technologies, and Osmotica Pharmaceuticals.
Renee Gaeta was appointed CFO of Outset Medical, Inc. (Nasdaq: OM), a medical technology company, effective immediately. Gaeta will also have responsibility for Outset’s Information Technology and Human Resources organizations. She succeeds Nabeel Ahmed who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. Gaeta most recently served as CFO of Shockwave Medical until its $13 billion acquisition by Johnson and Johnson in May 2024.
Alpana Wegner was appointed CFO of Integral Ad Science (Nasdaq: IAS), a global media measurement and optimization platform, effective June 10. Wegner replaces Jill Putman who has served as interim CFO since January. Wegner brings over 25 years of financial leadership experience. She most recently served as CFO of SecureWorks.
Rick Surett was appointed CFO of Grant Thornton, a global professional services firm, effective June 2. He succeeds Muhammad Bhayat, who is retiring after more than 20 years at Grant Thornton. Surett has nearly 30 years of experience. Before joining Grant Thornton, Surett served as CFO of Transportation Equipment Network. He also held a series of leadership roles at Ports America, including CFO, and previously served as director of corporate development at Avaya.
Big Deal
“This year’s Fortune 500 was unusually stable—but the Trump tariffs could shake up the ranks” is a new piece by Fortune’s Matthew Heimer, executive editor of features. Heimer writes that the authoritative list of America’s largest companies has never been more stable. In this year’s edition, our 71st, only 22 companies from the previous year were displaced—the second-lowest total in the past 30 years.
However, he points out that tariffs are the elephant in the room. “When uncertainty escalates into volatility, it can open up new possibilities,” Heimer writes. “Upheaval shakes people and companies out of their habits and assumptions. Few people truly enjoy a crisis, but good leaders see the opportunities a crisis can contain.”
You can read the complete article here.
Going deeper
Here are four Fortune weekend reads:
“Elon Musk predicts a recession due to Trump tariffs, Tesla shares tumble,” by Jeff John Roberts
“Circle pops over 168% in market debut as sleepy IPO market heats up” by Luisa Beltran
“The only ‘Made in America’ smartphone maker has a message for Apple about manufacturing in the Trump tariff era” by Verne Kopytoff
“Drinking coffee may help you stay sharp as you age, according to a 30-year study of nearly 50,000 people” by Alexa Mikhail
Overheard
“The bromance between Musk and Trump quickly grew into ‘frenemies’ in junior high school.”
—Wedbush Securities tech analysts wrote in a Friday morning note regarding the feud on social media between President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday.
