Apple CFO Oppenheimer to retire; Maestri named successor

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer will retire at the end of September, as Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook brings on a new lieutenant to navigate slowing growth at the iPhone maker.

Luca Maestri, 50, who joined Apple as vice president of finance and corporate controller a year ago, will succeed Oppenheimer, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company said in a statement Tuesday.

Oppenheimer, 51, was at Apple for 18 years, a period when the company introduced the iPod and iPhone. He oversaw a surge in Apple's cash pile to $158.8 billion from $5.46 billion in 2004, the year he was promoted to CFO, reinstated dividends in 2012 and returned more than $50 billion to shareholders. His departure is the biggest change to executive ranks since Cook ousted mobile-software chief Scott Forstall in 2012.

"When Luca was hired a year ago, we saw the writing on the wall," said Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos. who has the equivalent of a buy rating for Apple's stock.

Oppenheimer said in the statement that he plans to spend more time with his family, get more involved at California Polytechnic State University, travel and finish his pilot's license.

Maestri joined Apple in March 2013 and was previously the CFO of Xerox and Nokia Siemens Networks. Maestri will start transitioning to the role as Apple's CFO in June.

"When we were recruiting for a corporate controller, we met Luca and knew he would become Peter's successor," Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive officer, said in the statement. "Luca has over 25 years of global experience in senior financial management, including roles as a public company CFO, and I am confident he will be a great CFO at Apple."

Oppenheimer also helped Cook stare down activist investors. Last month, Carl Icahn dropped his campaign urging Apple to buy back $50 billion of stock this year, after the company stepped up repurchases.

Last year, Apple also appeased hedge-fund manager David Einhorn by boosting its dividend and increasing buybacks.

While Apple co-founder Steve Jobs resisted calls to return cash to shareholders, Cook and Oppenheimer have shown a willingness to meet investor demands.

"Look at where Apple came from in terms of cash, capital distribution two years ago -- I mean, it's night and day," Munster said. "Oppenheimer was a big part of helping orchestrate that."

Oppenheimer's departure comes as Apple's profit and sales have stagnated after years of growth, in part because of ebbing demand for the iPhone, its top-selling device. Apple last year posted its first profit decline in more than a decade. Last month, the company said revenue this quarter may fall for the first time since 2003.

The outgoing CFO was paid a total of $2.63 million in Apple's latest fiscal year through September. In the prior year, Oppenheimer was paid $68.6 million, including restricted shares, making him the highest-paid CFO at the time. He and other top Apple executives were issued stock grants in 2012 to retain top lieutenants after the death of Jobs.

Oppenheimer joined Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s board of directors Monday after the bank was the lead underwriter on Apple's bond offering last year.

- With assistance from Sarah Rabil in New York.