Wayfair Promotes Kate Gulliver to Take on CFO, CAO Roles

wayfair, Kate Gulliver, CFO and CAO,

Home goods eCommerce marketplace Wayfair is appointing Kate Gulliver to take on the roles of chief financial officer (CFO) and chief administrative officer (CAO) as CFO Michael Fleisher plans his retirement.

Niraj Shah, CEO, co-chairman and co-founder of Wayfair, said in a press release on Thursday (May 5) that for the past eight years, Fleisher was was a “pivotal part of our leadership team” and went beyond his CFO duties to offer counsel.

“He helped us take the company public, stand up a world-class corporate function, and navigate a global pandemic, and he has been a tremendous thought partner,” Shah said, adding that Fleisher is leaving in a “thoughtful way, with a transparent and long-planned timeline.” 

The company’s current chief people officer, Gulliver has been with Wayfair for eight years and will be prompted to the role of SVP, CFO and CAO. She will head up Wayfair’s finance, legal, talent, real estate and corporate affairs teams and will formally start her new role in November.

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Gulliver was a key part of Wayfair’s initial public offering (IPO) and also further developed the company’s talent organization. As the head of global human capital management, she was was in charge of recruiting, organizational design, talent management, talent analytics, compensation and learning and development. 

Before Wayfair, Gulliver was an investor at Bain Capital for four years and a consultant at McKinsey for nearly three years. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Yale University.

Fleisher is planning to remain with Wayfair during the transition period until his retirement on Jan. 15, 2023.

“It’s been an extraordinary privilege to be a part of Wayfair’s growth story and a member of this team,” Fleisher said. “I’m a 100% believer in Wayfair’s future and will proudly remain a long term shareholder. I made a commitment to myself and my family years ago to retire on this timeline and have been working to ensure a smooth transition to my successor.” 

He added that Gulliver is “uniquely qualified” to take the helm as CFO and to “continue to propel Wayfair’s growth story.”