The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) position has risen to being as important as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) position in the corporate world. The prevalence of the COO position among Fortune 500 companies has steadily declined over the last decade to less than 50 percent, yet almost all firms have a CFO of rising importance. An example is the CFO position is at Twitter Inc., where Anthony Noto is being groomed to likely take over for CEO Dick Costolo, who is leaving the company on July 1, 2015. Mr. Noto was recently given head responsibility for marketing at Twitter. In the last year, it was Noto who initiated and coordinated major business deals and acquisitions at Twitter. Noto’s compensation package at Twitter exceeded $73 million in 2014; he was CFO of the National Football League (NFL) from 2008 to 2010. Analysts say Noto’s years of playing football at West Point and his experience as an Army Ranger gave him excellent team building skills. Mr. Noto often tells employees and managers to “Play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the back.”

Source: Based on Yoree Koh, “Ascent of Twitter CFO Creates a Power Center,” Wall Street Journal, June 15, 2015, B1 and B4.